Small actions can lead to large consequences and even the smallest ripple can make waves. so it stands to reason that a large ripple could leave Equestria, the war, even the whole world different... but is that a necessarily a bad thing? This fact weighs heavily on the mind of a young pegisus filly with a strange body and even stranger powers as she fights for the ponies she cares about, the past she never knew she had, and the future everypony lost. but will what she finds be worth the cost.
Hello everypony Snowy here and this if the first fic I've ever posted here on the Internets. I got the idea after reading the great Fallout Equestria and Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons. i doubt ill ever get anywhere near that level of awesomeness but i figure i might as well try to make a fun and interesting fic set in an alternate timeline.
questions, comments, and constructive criticism is very welcome.
Chapter 1: fire and death It has been said that war never changes but that’s a bold faced lie. If war never changed the ponies would have still been fighting each other with sticks and stones. They wouldn’t have made ever more dangerous weapons, wouldn’t have started armies and wars, and wouldn’t have killed the whole world. Unlike war the motives for the act never changed much over the centuries of the world’s existence, some creature would see some other creature with something it wanted or doing or saying something it didn’t like and they would fight over it. As the years passed the fights became larger and larger and involved more and more creatures eventually becoming wars, but throughout it all the motives never changed. Greed and the difference of opinion were what had and would continue to cause war since time immemorial. Still there were some who resisted war and its horrors. Who said that peace should be the only option but their cry’s fell on deaf ears and there was war and the world was laid waste because of it. One of the areas hardest hit by the sad and terrible war was the once beautiful land of Equestria a land formally full of wonder and magic now a barren and sad wasteland bereft of its former luster. The scorched and pathetic country was and is home to a race of beings called ponies. These creatures were equine in base and stood quadrupedal on hooves anywhere for four to six feet tall when fully grown, they had tails and manes and long muzzles with forward facing eyes and pointed triangle ears on top of their heads. In the land of Equestria there were four types of ponies the most common of which was the earth-ponies, hardy, forward thinking , and very industrious. The regale and mystical unicorns are rarer with the magical power of their horns and their natural affinity toward knowledge and learning they are some of the most adept at magiscience technology. Though once more common the pegesi mostly fled up into the clouds and tower bunkers after the war abandoning all others in order to save themselves. With wings and the ability to touch and mold clouds as if they were solid objects they are sleek, speedy, incredibly good aerial fighters though they can sometimes act rashly. The fourth and final type of ponies, the alicorns, are the rarest. So rare that some ponies say that they never existed in the first place. They had all the powers and traits of the other three and were the strongest and wisest of all ponies. Before the war the land of Equestria was ruled be two said alicorns. Back then the land had known peace for over a thousand years and was protected and guided by the two princess sisters and six famous pony heroes. Even after the war started the ponies of Equestria knew that the great protectors of the land would keep them safe and win the war. In response the princess founded six ministries and put the heroes of Equestria in charge of them. However two years after the war’s start, the princesses and their heroes left the now decrepit castle of canterlot on an important mission only to disappear entirely along with the town they were in. The loss of the lands greatest leaders was a terrible blow to Equestria but the ponies kept going, praying that their guardians would return and bring a swift end to the war, their prayers would be answered but not in the way they wanted. In the final days it became clear to tall that looked that the princesses and their champions would not be returning. They searched desperately for someone to lead them, to protect them, to bring them victory. But it was not to be, mere days before their greatest projects were finished the megaspells were cast, the bombs were dropped, and their fate was sealed. Equestria, and much of the rest of the world, was all but whipped away in an orgy of balefire and death. Not all ponies died with their great nation, some were spared, either by hiding in magically protected buildings and areas of the land that were not hit or only barely touched by the balefire that ravaged to world or but staying in great underground bunkers called stables. In the stables the ponies were protected from the balefire and the magical radiation of the apocalypse and it gave them everything they needed to live conferrable, relatively happy lives. The stables were meant to shield pony-kind and keep them safe till the land was safe and healed. It had been so long since some stables were opened that entire generations never knew there was an outside. It was in one such stable that our story begins, stable 22, a name that would one day be known all over Equestria. In it was a small, lonely pony with no friends and few options in life. Unaware shi and hir future companions would play an important role in the rebirth of the land of Equestria. That pony happens to be me, my name’s Snowy Flanks and this is my story.
Chapter 3: New foes and… friends? “I’ve never seen you before.” “Kid your smarter than ya look.” Darkness… that’s all there was, wait no there was breathing too. Who was breathing and why? It took my brain much longer than my body to return from the land of the dead, opening my eyes I had been expecting to see the smiling faces of the goddesses ready to take me up in their embrace. Instead my returning vision was greeted with grey metallic walls. The breathing, I realized, had been my own. Sitting up with a groan I took stalk of my surroundings, there was a long metal hallway that led to a staircase and a large trapdoor while behind me the great stable door stood shut like it always was. “But if the door is shut how did I get out here… wherever here is. More importantly how am I still alive and where is Emerald?” Before I could think too much about it there was flashing light on my pipbuck, it was a new message. Pressing play the voice of the overmare rang out in the silence “Hello Snowy, I’m truly sorry I had to stun you but I couldn’t let you leave the stable… at least not without finding out why. You see Snowy its orders from stable-tec that are keeping us trapped here they ordered the first overmare of stable 22 to not open the stable door without express permission from stable-tec. If we do open the door without their orders they said they would destroy the stable with high explosives buried under its foundation. I wasn’t ready to risk the stable and all the ponies inside. However when I saw that look in your eyes I knew you would try and leave no matter how great the consequences so I decided to open the stable one more time and let you out. I know you must hate me right now, and I can’t blame you, but I need you. You have to find stable-tec’s headquarters and find a way to make the stable safe. Till then you are banished and cannot return. ” I listened quietly, my mood worsening. So the same overmare who stunned me and Emerald then banished us now had a job for me. It was very tempting to just scream, to cry, and to buck all the stable residents straight to the moon. But I knew that wasn’t going to happen, even after all that happened, in my heart of hearts I was going to try and help them. “Well I won’t get very far just sitting here.” I said and walked up to the stairs. Emerging from the trapdoor I found myself in a small room that looked like the shop in the stable. Two things that were immediately apparent, there was nothing on the shelves or the old coolers and there were ponies that must live here. I thought that they might be able to help me but those thoughts were squashed as the front door opened and one of the ponies started talking “I’m telling you those guy what came out of the sky were scary as hell. Not to mention they came and got that unicorn before we could play with him” the voice in the other room seemed to brighten “Although I bet you there’s still other ponies down there and if that one got out then maybe we can get in and have some fun.” It suddenly struck me that I didn’t think I wanted to meet these ponies, they sounded mean. Sneaking out the back door I looked for cover on the front of the building but there wasn’t anything other than some small rocks. So I did the only thing I could, I took wing and flew, really flew, for the first time. The flight was short lived as I crashed almost immediately, thankfully right in front of the ruins of a town, unfortunately the ponies in the small shop heard the noise and started running after me. Pulling myself up from the dust I took cover behind the small wall of one of the more ruined builds and brought my pistol to bear as a shot rang out and pain lanced up my cheek. The ponies chasing me looked horrifying. There were three of them, all earth-ponies, one was grey and had some kind of old shotgun in some kind of saddle, another was a black pony with a scar all down one side of his face. He was carrying a small handgun in his mouth like I was; the third had half of its coat missing but the part that was left looked blue under the dirt and blood. I aimed down the sights as best I could, holding guns in your mouth is hard, but didn’t fire, there was blood flowing from my cheek but they were sill ponies, at least I think they were ponies so I had to try diplomacy so I pulled the pistol out of my mouth with a fetlock “Wait please don’t fire. I don’t know where I am so can you help me?” I asked. “Oh we’ll help you sweetie, just you come over here and we’ll have lots of fun.” the black pony shouted as he raised his handgun *bang* my leg exploded in pain and my vision flared with red. So much for diplomacy, I put the gun back, flicked the safety off, and fired *bang, bang, bang * the first pony, the one with the shotgun, suddenly found himself with a 12mm bullet in his eye as the one who had shouted screamed as his shoulder and chest blossomed with red. I panned my gun towards the third pony but my vision was started to swim and grow dark. I was firing rapidly but my rounds went wide. The half coated pony surged forward, rusty ax held high. *POW* the raider’s head exploded, dimly aware that the shot didn’t come from my gun I tried to find the source of it. But before I could my vision lurched and I slipped back into blackness. I groaned as I came back for the second time in… was it the same day, it was hard to tell. Somepony was talking but I couldn’t make out the words “Hello …….. hear me? Please tell...you’re …there.” Opening my eyes my gaze was locked with a cute earth-pony with a blue coat and a black mane and tail. She was wearing a leather duster and patchwork clothes, there was a rifle on her back in another saddle-thing and I could see a pistol on her foreleg as she stared down at me, her aqua colored eyes wide in worry as she spoke softly “You with me again?” I nodded a little “Good now I’m going to have to take you’re barding off.” My eyes went wide “Wait what! No you can’t do that please.” The blue mare blinked saying “What’s wrong you’ve been shot and I need to see if the round is still in you so I can help. Look we’re both fillies so I’ve seen it before, your safe I promise.” Blushing like a foal I replied “Uh…ok.” I had wanted to say no but the pain was too great, I had to let this cute pony help me. “Ok then just relax and it will be ok.” The older pony smiled trying her best to ease my nervousness “Ok then just let me look… yep looks like the bullet went right through without hitting anything important. Take this healing potion and I’ll bandage you up.” Downing the potion I whinnied as the healing magic washed over me, my cheek wound mended right up and the one in my thigh closed enough for the magic bandages to stop the bleeding. “Um thank you for helping me but who are you and what were those… things chasing me?” Smiling sweetly at seeing my pain ease away the mare spoke “Huh? Oh right my name’s Glitter Lens nice to meet ya. As for those ponies, haven’t you ever seen a raider before?” As Glitter helped me to my feet and started to walk with me through the decrepit bones of the former town I blushed “No I haven’t. Why were they attacking me, I just got out of my stable I couldn’t have done anything to them.” At this realization the pretty blue mare stopped and had to hold on to me as she asked “Wait you said stable, are you telling me you came out of the stable down there?” Nodding slowly I affirmed “Yep I lived down there my whole life till I…” I winced a little at the remaining pain as Glitter and I took the weapons and ammo from the dead raiders “Anyway I lived there till I found out there was still a world out here. After hearing the truth I had to come out and be free.” Glitter’s eyebrows rose in disbelief “You came out here to the wasteland, but your way too young to be out here on your own. Although I must admit after seeing you in action you know how to handle yourself.” If I didn’t have a leg wound I probably would have been prancing with pride, as it was I just grinned bashfully “Thanks for the… complement but I wasn’t alone. There was another pony with me, a unicorn, but I don’t know where he went.” Glitter frowned “A unicorn, I don’t know anything about that but if he came out here first he may be in Baleville.” “Baleville?” I questioned “Is that a settlement of some kind?” The blue mare nodded and smiled “Yep that’s my home, nice town just north of here. When we get there we’ll have Anesthesia look at your leg.” Taking that in I felt relief flow through my body. After seeing those raider ponies I had thought that there was no civilization anywhere in Equestria… or what was left of it. As we came up to the big walls I had only one comment “It’s…bigger than I expected.” And it was, Baleville turned out to be a large town with walls made of old sky chariots and abandoned train cars, on top of said walls were guard ponies. One of them saw me and Glitter and waived at us as the large gate opened up. The blue mare giggled at the look of wonder on my face “Well what do ya think. It’s not quite as clean or high tec as you’re stable but its home.” Once inside my wonder over the town didn’t decrease in the slightest. There were three levels all connected by ramps. There were houses and shops all about the edges of the town, in the center however was a large crater of some kind and inside was some object that was casting up a blue and purple glow. I couldn’t see what was causing the light show but it was dazzling. Seeing that I was entranced Glitter gently pulled on my arm “Hey come on now we have to go see Anesthesia. Once we’re done there I’ll take you on the full tour ok?” I winced as the pain in my leg finally cut through my awe. Once we got to the towns small clinic we met Anesthesia who, it turned out, preferred to just be called Ana. The older pink unicorn mare was kindly but stern, she took one glance at my leg and gave me a look that only a doctor can give to a patient, the kind that makes me feel like it was my fault I was injured. As Ana used her horn’s magic on my leg I took the opportunity to check out the building, it was small and sparsely decorated, only two beds and some small medical boxes, their pink and yellow crosses matching Ana’s dress. The older mare smiled sweetly “Well you’re going to be just fine sweetie, just give me a second and I’ll use a healing spell on it.” “Praise the goddess that’s good to know.” The smile I had on my lips died as Ana’s face tightened “What… what did I say?” The medical pony looked toward Glitter for help but the blue Earth-pony but she was busy face-hoofing. Seeing that she was alone Ana spoke up “Well uh you see it might not be a good idea to praise those two ponies around others. Many ponies feel to this day that the so-called goddesses abandoned Equestria.” My mind could not accept that fact so instead of arguing I simply asked “You’re kidding right?” The door opened “Nope she’s telling the truth little one.” said a gravelly voice from the entryway. All of our heads turned and I glimpsed Glitter’s eyes light up “Daddy!” At the door the Thing stood as the blue pony rushed into its forelegs and gave it a hug “hey there sweetie I’m glad to be back. Now who is this you brought here with you.” Giggling like a foal Glitter replied “Oh hir, shi followed me home can we keep hir.” The creature looked like a pony… if the pony had lost some of its skin and a good portion of its mane, catching my stare the pony…thing smiled “What never seen a ghoul-pony before?” After I calmed myself I found that the ghouls name was Lawman. He was the mayor/sheriff of Baleville although till today he was leading a caravan out to small hamlet called New Doge Junction. Before we went on the tour I asked of the ponies in the clinic could explain some things to me “First off why do ponies hate the goddesses?” Lawman looked me over before replying “Well let’s see, how much do you know about history after the war started?” Thinking about it I realized it wasn’t very much, the stable’s records of history during the war were extremely sketchy. After saying what I did know the ghoul nodded and continued “Like you said a few years after the war started the princesses and the heroes of Equestria went to a small town called Ponyville for the start of some secret mission only to disappear entirely along with the town. What you don’t know is what happened afterward.” I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like the answer but I asked anyway “So what happened after the town disappeared?” Glitter picked up where her father left off “Well it’s said that one pony crawled out of the Ponyville crater. From what we can tell his name was Shadow Hooves, after returning to Canterlot and finding the castle blocked by the Goddesses’ magic he convinced the acting head’s of the six ministries to move their operations to Manehattan. After that Shadow Hooves used the ministries to run Equestria for the next eleven years till the megaspells went off.” This was a lot to take in and it would seem that I would be learning new facts about the wasteland and about Equestria’s history for a while. “So that’s why ponies think the goddesses betrayed them, because they disappeared with the town.” The ghoul smiled grimly “Yep that’s pretty much the reason.” I was about to argue about how silly and petty that sounded when Glitter cut me off with a wave of her hoof “Now hold on a minute. before we worry to much about that we have other things to take care of first...right Snowah." *** *** *** I was still fuming as we left the clinic to do other things in town. Glitter must have thought the look on my face was priceless because she wouldn't stop laughing Realizing how silly I looked I blushed and slowed my step down to a walk “So where are we going? You already showed me the bar and the diner.” Glitter smiled well we’re heading down to the crater so we can go to the Baleville Emporium. We need to get you a battle-saddle.” I was about to ask her what a battle-saddle was when we got to the bottom of town and I saw the glowing blue and purple orb laying there. “What is this thing… it’s beautiful.” Glitter pushed her foreleg over my eyes saying “That thing isn’t beautiful it’s a balefire bomb… and don’t look directly at it you’ll get entranced by its magic.” I swear I felt my blood turn to ice, tearing my eyes away from it I stared at Glitter in disbelief “You have an undetonated balefire bomb sitting in the middle of your town! Are you ponies insane!?” Seeing that I was about to run as far away from the town as fast as I could Glitter put her hoof on my shoulder “Hold on there Snowy, it’s ok the things been deactivated.” I squinted my eyes to keep from being entranced the thing and glanced to where she was pointing. There was a small object with a picture of some kind of gear on the outside of the bomb, seeing that there was an inscription I read aloud “No Boom 5000 by Clara Cog.” Glitter smiled at me in a reassuring way saying “Clara’s the owner of the emporium and is kind of a tinkerer; she’s a good mare if a bit of an airhead.” Trying to put my mind off the megaspell sitting in the center of town I asked the question I had meant to ask before the distraction “So can you tell me what a battle-saddle is and why I would need one?” For a second the mare looked confused but she quickly regained her composure “Oh right, I forgot you never saw one. We earth-ponies and pegesi use battle-saddles to hold guns that are too big for our mouths since we can’t use magic like unicorns.” That seemed simple enough to understand, the actual device on the other hoof didn’t. As she went on to explain the use of a battle-saddle I had to marvel at earth-pony engineering “So let’s see if I understand… you flick the bit up from the side, you tug the bit backwards to cock the gun, and then you bite down on the bit to fire.” Glitter nodded “Eyep then ya just pull the bit back again to work the guns action… unless it’s a semi or fully automatic gun. For semiautomatics you just bite down again and for automatic guns just hold the bit down.” Ok that was easy enough to understand “And I just push the toggle on the saddle to reload right?” “Eyep” Glitter affirmed. I was about to ask more about the internal workings of the things when we came to the shop and words failed me. The store looked like somepony had gotten a train car drunk and had it mate with a sky-chariot and an industrial chimney, then used the resulting offspring as a building. I heard Glitter beside me laughing her plot off at the look on my muzzle “I told you she was a bit of a tinkerer.” Thinking that calling her a bit of a tinkerer was an understatement I walked in shop’s front door. Inside we were greeted by a cheerful and bubbly mare’s voice “Hello and welcome to… oh hi Glitter who’s your new little filly friend?”The shops interior was just as jumbled and cluttered as its outside but at present I was too busy getting a hoofshake form the shop’s owner to notice. The mare in front of me looked the part of an inviter and shop owner, she was bright yellow and wore a grease stained jumpsuit, and her short red mane and tail were tied back to keep them clean. After getting the introductions over with we started to barter for a battle-saddle and I found out that ponies used bottle caps for money…for some reason. Clara didn’t seem to mind that I didn’t have any money as she offered me the best battle-saddle she had in stock “This one here is a real gem. It’s got room for two guns, uses a magi-science field instead of mechanical parts to work, and it even has subspace ammo storage. So you can just feed in ammo and it will be stored in a gemstone till it gets loaded.” I wasn’t sure I knew how the barter system worked but I did know there was no way I could afford that thing. Clara obviously read my mind as she spoke up before I could argue “Now don’t worry about payment, I have a job I need done that you could help with. You do that and we’ll call it even, ill even throw in some weapons and leather armored barding for free.” *** *** *** After putting the lever-action rifle form Clara and the shotgun I got from the raider into my new battle-saddle and putting on my armor we found ourselves outside of Bucktown. Lawman had found us after we left the emporium. There was a job he needed done and he was going to be heading back to New Doge Junction, there had been some kind of creature that had come out of the Everfree Forest and the small hamlet had called for aid. Unfortunately Baleville’s water purifier had been on its last legs and had picked that exact day to finally give up the ghost. All we had to do was go to the Bucktown School and find its purifier and scavenge the parts form it. The only problem was that the northern part of Bucktown was raider territory and several of them were holed up in the school. With that in mind we were low to the ground hiding behind a crumbling building across the street from the school, I wasn’t sure I was ready to have to kill another pony but the town needed those parts. Glitter was crouching next to me looking through her flip-over rifle scope “how many do you see?” At my question the young mare flipped up her scope and looked over at me “Well as far as I can see there are two at the front door and I saw a few more through the windows so I’d say no more than thirteen.” She said and then nudged me with a forehoof “Are you sure that your ready to do this I could go in by myself if you want.” Truthfully I didn’t want to go in at all but Glitter needed my help and after she saved my life there was no way I would let her down. “Let’s go be heroes.” Being heroes, as it turns out, is a lot harder and more frightening than the comic books make it seem. At first it had been a breeze, Glitter took out the two guards and we bust in through the front doors. In front of us were two surprised raider ponies, I wasn’t sure I wanted to kill but I didn’t have any choice. Turning to face the first pony I hit S.A.T.S. and put two rounds on the first and a third on the second one. *Pow* the fist raider went down, a 30.30 round lodged in his brain. My second and third shots weren’t so lucky only grazing the raider, my targeting spell was still recharging so I did the only thing I could, biting down on the left bit of my battle-saddle my shotgun roared to life. The raider’s forehoof and chest exploded in red just before he could bring his own gun to bear. Looking to my right I saw Glitter dispatching two other raiders who had rushed in to help with her revolver. Rushing through the hallways we cut a swath through the raiders, alone or in groups of two or three they weren’t very dangerous. But eventually the last five of them had us pinned down in a narrow hallway and they were shooting at us… a lot. “I’m starting to think that busting in through the front door was a dumb idea.” Glitter said with the smuggest grin I had ever seen. I wanted to hit her, and point out that while it was my idea she was the one who went along with it, when I felt a lance of fire hit my breast. Looking down I saw blood leaking from a hole in my armor, one of the bullets the raider were shooting had gone through the thin table we were using for cover. There was a lot of pain but my pipbuck’s medical spell told me the round hadn’t hit anything vital, still we needed to get out of here before one of the raiders got lucky “Glitter we need to… go… I’ve been shot.” I heard the mare next to me give a loud swear then pull something from her saddlebag, it looked like a metal apple with a ring in the stem, grunting she heaved herself up and tossed the thing in her mouth. “Um Glitter what was…” there was a huge explosion “Celestia fuck me gently what was that!!” The blue pony was giving that smug smile again “That…my stable dwelling friend was a high explosive grenade, I had hoped to save it but we have to get you patched up.” Once we made sure the raiders were dead I found myself lying on my side in the same hallway and screaming like I never had before. Glitter stood above me with a pair of tweezes held in her mouth and her muzzle splashed with my blood “Hod on I amos got it.” There was a small clack and I felt something more than just the tweezers being pulled out of me, it hurt a lot but I managed to keep form screaming again. Downing the healing potion Glitter hoofed me I managed to pull myself to my hooves “would you care to tell me why you had to dig around in… me before letting me heal?” My companion looked angry for a second before she seemed to relax and replied “Because if I just gave you the potion the bullet would still be in you, a pony can get by with lead in them but that one was close to your vitals and could have shifted. Now come on we need to find that purifier so we can get back to Baleville and have Anesthesia look at you.” It was a bit hard to walk as I wasn’t completely healed but I staggered to follow after Glitter. We found the thing as well as every weapon, bullet, and valuable the raiders had on them and headed back to Baleville hoping that we didn’t hit anymore raiders. Footnote: level up Skill notes: Flying now at 25
We had made it back to Baleville and had given the parts to Rustbucket, a red and orange earth-pony with a paradoxically clean sliver bucket for a cutie mark, so he could fix up the purifier while Glitter and I went to her house to rest up and recover. The house had used to belong to her adoptive father Lawman but as he was mostly on the road with caravans now he let her have it. It was a large shack at the back of the town made of a train car and lots of sheet metal. Sitting on the one bed I decided it was time to ask the question that had been bugging me since the firefight “Hey Glitter, how come we needed to fix the purifier? Is all the water out here in the wasteland irradiated?” My blue mare friend jumped up to lay down next to me “Na not all the water or plants are tainted, it’s been two hundred years, but some places still have lots of taint and this place is one of them. We’re not sure what exactly but something leaking out of the Everfree Forest taints and irradiates all the ground water around here so we have to purify it.” That seemed to makes sense, to me at least, and I was about to pester her some more to learn about this taint that was in the ground water when I felt her hoof brush my side. Looking over I saw her staring at me with an intense worry in her eyes “Snowy… are you going to be ok? Ya’ve only been out here for a day and you… well.” One day out of the stable and I had already killed seven ponies. I thought about a raider’s head blowing apart in the slow-motion of S.A.T.S. and came to the conclusion that… no I was not ok. But Glitter had killed more than I have and she looked ok so I decided to just say “yep… I’m fine… just fine.” The blue mare looked as if she wanted to argue with me but then she saw just how exhausted I was when I leaned over to grab an apple from the nightstand and fell off the bed flat on my face. Glitter helped me back onto the bed “Oops sorry I forgot you aren’t used to fighting ponies all day. Ya look worn out so let’s get some sleep.” she said as she started to ease off my barding. My eyes bulged and I skittered away from her, almost falling back off the bed “Um wait were going to be sleeping in the same room? Isn’t there anywhere ells to sleep at, like maybe an inn or something?” Glitter’s confusion was evident on her face but I couldn’t sleep in the same bed as her, she was a mare… a cute mare. “What’s wrong Snowy I have already seen naked so there’s nothing to worry about.” I started to stammer out some response when the blue mare’s eyes widened “Oh…Oh! I understand what the problem is. You don’t have to worry about that hun it’s not a problem.” It took another ten minutes to convince me that Glitter was ok with the fact that I liked mares and thought she was pretty. After helping me out of my leather barding and talking off her outfit my friend slid under the covers with me and snuggled up to my back, I had to admit that while the act made me intensely embarrassed it did feel really nice to have somepony so close to me. I felt breath on my mane as Glitter lifted her head up above mine and asked “Are ya sure you’re ok Snowy? I know how hard the fist kill can be especially to one so young and your shaking way more than a pony with a crush so talk to me.” I still wasn’t quite ready to talk about my murder spree so instead I said “Um well I’m just worried about Emerald no one saw him in town and he wasn’t in the school.” Glitter didn’t looked convinced but replied “Well he’s got to be out there somewhere so we should find him soon. If you’re sure your ok it’s time to get some sleep.” Nodding to her I laid back on my pillow and Glitter put her foreleg over my side, this made me blush but I ignored it and went to sleep. *** *** *** At fist my sleep was uninterrupted but soon my slumber was marred by visions filled with dead raider ponies. Their body’s blossomed in red, their heads exploded in gore, their chests heaved up and down as they gasped their last breaths. I tried to escape to… somewhere, anywhere that wasn’t the scene of horror before me but no matter how hard I ran I couldn’t get away from them. Soon the raiders stopped dying and slowly rose to their hooves and began to shamble towards me saying “You killed us Snowy, we’re dead now all because of you. Are you happy now Snowy, now that we’re dead?” They crowded around me trapping me in a circle, as one they screamed, swore, and gurgled at me. I curled up into a ball as they tightened their circle my body shaking in terror as I cried out “I’m sorry I’m sorry! Go away, leave me alone I’m sorry I killed you!” Suddenly the screams and gurgles stopped and the most beautiful voice I had ever heard called out softly “Shhh hush now little one it will be ok.” A large warm hoof gently touched my shoulder as my quivering stopped; looking up at the hoof’s owner my eyes bulged in disbelief. Before me stood the two goddesses I had prayed to since I was a foal. My mouth opened but no sound came out, I tried harder but… nothing. The goddesses just smiled at me as Luna spoke this time, the midnight blue alicorn’s voice as beautiful as hir sisters but slightly less mature sounding “Hush now little pony don’t try to talk. You’re not quite strong enough for that just know that it will be ok.” Calming for a moment I caught sight of the room around us, it was a large and elegantly dressed hall with two large gold thrones that the princesses sat on in front of me. It looked a lot like throne room in canterlot but there was one major difference, on either side of the hall were large windows full of light that showed lots of ponies and… more alicorns walking, flying, and playing together. Looking back at the goddesses I saw that both of them were smiling at me but also crying softly as Celestia lifted her hoof from my shoulder and then gathered me to her chest for a warm soft hug. Luna joined in and I thought I might just explode from joy, but then I thought about what I had done this very day, all the ponies I had killed and I suddenly felt that I didn’t deserve to be held like this. As that realization sunk in I found that while I couldn’t talk I could cry and so I did, I sobbed silently and tried to pull away from the two princesses. Seeing this Celestia took a hoof from around me and used it to bring my tear filled silver eyes to her gorgeous amethyst pair “Shhh now my little pony it will be ok we’re not mad at you, we’re just sad that there are so many ponies that are so full of hate. I’m sorry you had to do what you did but I can promise my sister and I will be here for you.” Luna smiled at me as well using her velvety soft wing-tip to dry my tears “My sister is right little Snowy we will be here when you need us, but right now you have to wake up.” Confusion ran through me, why would I want to wake up this hug was the happiest I’ve ever been. As if reading my mind Celestia nuzzled my forehead and whispered into my ear “There is still much you need to learn little one and you need to see that while we can’t be with you in the wastes you won’t be alone.” Suddenly the world shifted and I found myself in some other pony’s forelegs. Glitter was holding me tightly and nuzzling my ear while I cried into her coat. Sniffling myself into silence I looked up into her aqua eyes “I…I’m sorry. I just couldn’t talk about it… I was so scared.” I felt Glitter rub my cheek with a forehoof as she replied quietly “Hey now that’s ok I know it’s hard to come to terms with it sometimes.” Rubbing my teary eyes I asked “How can you be so ok with it? I … I feel like I’m a bad pony.” Glitter pulled me back into her chest and nuzzled the top of my head before replying “Well the truth of it is that ah been fighting raiders for a while now so I’m more used to killing than you are. But more than that dad used to take me out hunting all the time, in fact that’s how I got this.” Looking at her flank I saw that a rifle scope, its lens glittering in the sun, was her cutie-mark. The blue mare beamed at her flank. My curiosity was piqued so I asked her about it “Dad and I were hunting for some radhog meat to sell and we had gone real close to the Everfree forest. I was back up on the small ridge by the town and he was below me when all the sudden a big timberwolf charged out of the forest and attacked dad. I had tried to get a clean shot but he was holding it off with his hooves and a knife so he kept getting in the way.” I was on the edge of the bed as I waited for her to continue “I kept looking down my scope, hoping that dad would move or do something when all of the sudden dad fell flat on his back and I got a clear shot. The thing was as soon as I could see the timberwolf everything just kinda slowed down and I found I could pick my shots while time just seemed to crawl by.” My brain reeled at the prospect that this earth pony could do something naturally that I could only do with the help of my pipbuck’s targeting spell. Then again after what had happened when I got my own cutiemark I probably couldn’t argue with her story. As if reading my mind Glitter nudged my shoulder with a forehoof “Well you heard my fascinating story so now you get to tell me yours.” Saying that my story was nowhere as exciting as hers didn’t deter her so I gave in “Well it only happened three days ago so I haven’t really had time to think about it very much. It all started just before school when I was heading to class.” That day had started much like any other; I was running late for school and had been just about to go inside when Bolts and his gang of miscreants stepped in front of the door and blocked me. Bolts was a unicorn buck a few years older than I was and was a complete jerk, he and his gang terrorized all the young foals of the stable but I had always been his favorite target because to him I was a freak. After stopping me he started on his whole tirade about me and my parents which wasn’t anything new. At least until he attacked me that is. Since I didn’t know a thing about magic at the time I haven’t a clue as to what spell he used but his horn glowed a bright orange and a ball of flame shot out of it. My wings were the only thing that saved me form getting cooked as they snapped open and I almost hit the ceiling. Once that happened security swarmed in from all over and dragged Bolts away as he was screaming at me that he knew what I was. After that my parents and the overmare showed up and everyone was yelling at everyone so to get away from it I ran off down to the orchard where we grow our apples and hunkered down just wanting to feel better and not feel like a freak, that’s when the weirdest thing happened. Glitter’s eyebrow rose with curiosity as she asked me to continue. Truthfully I wasn’t exactly sure what happened I but I explained anyway “It started to snow in the orchard. There were artificial clouds in the orchard but the only thing they could do was cover the fake sun and occasionally rain a little.” The blue mare looked incredulous but after thinking for a second she seemed to have an idea “So ya made it snow somehow. Well ya are a pegasus, ain’t that what you’re supposed to do?” I had heard that a long time ago that pegesi had controlled the weather by moving and even walking on clouds but I hadn’t even touched them so I didn’t think that was the case. Besides if that was what happened it wouldn’t have explained the strange surge I felt flowing through me or the fact that when everyone made it down to the orchard and my parents saw what was happening they had a look of absolute hatred on their faces. After that story we both seemed to look for something to say till Glitter nudged my shoulder saying “So what exactly were ya dreaming about? Ya were shaking like mad and screaming then ya just got all calm and started to cry and whimper about how somepony shouldn’t be so nice to ya.” Deciding that it couldn’t hurt talk about it I told her everything about the dream I had. After asking me a few more questions about it Glitter dropped the subject but I noticed that she looked confused as she went to sleep and with a little time to calm myself down I fallowed her in the land of dreams *** *** *** That morning it took us a little while to get going as I still didn’t sleep to well after wakening up. But eventually we started off towards the job Clara had given us. As I thought about the yellow mare I had an idea that would help if we ran into trouble with raiders or somepony ells. Breaking off from Glitter I headed back into town with a promise to meet up with her outside of the Super Pony-Mart in Bucktown. I had two stops to make and as much as I would love to get Anesthesia look at my head and see if she could stop my headache I needed caps to do it so first it was off to Clara’s. Once inside the emporium the yellow mare and I got down to bartering. Most of the gear and guns we got from the raiders was complete crap but I did manage to get her to repair my armor and install an add-on into my battle-saddle. Clara smiled over at me “You be careful with the addition to your battle-saddle. We wouldn’t want to have anypony get hurt accidentally right?” I smiled and thanked the kind but slightly ditzy mare then made my way over to Baleville’s clinic so Ana could look at my head and make it stop hurting so much. As I entered the elder pink pony gave me the same scathing look “Hello there Snowy I don’t suppose your coming in here to tell me that you decided to stop adventuring and getting shot at.” I wasn’t sure if I should be frightened or angry but before I could really say anything Ana continued her speech “I do understand that life is very tough out here in the wastes but you’re just a little filly.” “Well yes but…” “You’ve only been out of your stable one day and you have already killed at least half a dozen ponies.” “But I didn’t have a…” “Not to mention been seriously wounded twice.” Sensing a pause in her rant I finally got a word in edgewise “I understand that you’re worried about me Miss Ana but I have to try and find my friend Emerald and do the job Clara gave me.” The older mare seemed taken aback for a second before she continued undauntedly “Somepony ells can do those things, your just a filly you shouldn’t be out searching the waists for a ghost or leaving other ponies in pools of their own…” I had had enough, slamming my forehoof down I practically screamed at the medical pony “SHUT UP!! Do you think I like what I had to do because I don’t, I hate it, I had nightmares about it but what was I supposed to do let them kill me?! I don’t like having to kill ponies but that won’t stop me from finding my friend and helping anypony who needs It.” as I ended my outburst the dam finally broke and I curled up began to sob. Suddenly I felt a hoof on my mane “I... I’m sorry I didn’t mean it like that it’s just that I don’t want to see another young filly get hurt.” Feeling rather embarrassed at how hateful I had been I hid my face behind my hooves as I squeaked out a reply between sniffles “W-well if you wanted to keep me from getting h-hurt I think you’re a little late. But I’m sorry I shouted at you like that it just scares me that I could do something like that… and it was so, so easy. It was like I was back at the stable’s practice range all I had to do was line up the sights, tongue the trigger and bam… except it wasn't paper targets this time it was ponies.” The older mare was looking more embarrassed by the second my continued distress “Um I do understand what you mean, I remember the nightmares I had after I killed my first pony… they weren’t pleasant.” I was about to ask her when she would have had to kill somepony but another thought struck me as curious so I decided to ask her about it “Hey miss Ana you said you didn’t want to see another filly hurt so was there one that you knew?” “Well yes actually, the story behind it is one that still pains me to this day but I suppose I owe you an explanation for my outburst.” “Oh no you don’t have to tell if it’s going to upset you.” She looked like somepony was stabbing her in the heart but she smiled tiredly at me none the less “Thanks sweetie but I really should talk about it. She was my niece, my sister and I lived in a larger town out east called Freetown. It was an ok town but a bit too rough and tumble to raise a family so when we had enough bottlecaps between us we planned to move out west where there wasn’t as much trouble.” Suddenly she stopped mid story and glanced confusedly at me “Uh not to be rude but I just realized, why are you here?” “Um well I was here because of my head; it’s been hurting for days and just seems to be getting worse.” Ana nodded and promised to look at my head after she finished her story “But before we could leave the wasteland got my sister. She…s-she was out by the Everfree forest when she ran into a patch of… killing-joke.” Curious about the name I asked “I don’t mean to interrupt you but what in Equestria is killing-joke?” “Well you’ve heard of poison-joke right?” when I answered yes she continued “Killing-joke is what happens when the flower is exposed to large amounts of magical radiation. As a side effect it becomes much more deadly.” The thought that there just wasn’t any good left in the waists crept through my head at that morbid little fact… but no that wasn’t true, look at Glitter and the ponies of Baleville and Emerald… wherever he was, there was good in the waists it was just a lot harder to find. “She always said she wanted to help pony medical science, it was the reason we got into being medical ponies. Well the joke thought it would be funny to have her help by spawning a new, incurable, disease in her. After that it only took a day and a half for it to finish her off.” “Oh Miss Ana I’m so sorry! I never had a sister but I couldn’t imagine losing her if I did.” “It’s ok Snowy it was a long time ago and she was a grown pony who knew the dangers of the Everfree…her daughter on the other hoof.” The medical pony took a second to calm herself “After my sister’s death Shimmer Blue, her daughter, got more and more depressed and despondent. I tried my best to cheer her up but nothing worked so finally I decided we would move out west like I and my sister were planning. Shimmer Blue was extremely upset at first but after I told her it was because her mother wanted her to grow up in a place where she could be happy and help everypony she could she agreed wholeheartedly.” Ana suddenly stopped in her tale to sigh heavily and gaze at the floor “I just wish she hadn’t taken my words so much to heart.” I leaned forward to lay my hoof on her shoulder to comfort the grieving mare “Please tell me what happened her.” “We had signed on with a caravan heading west to Baleville and had only been on the road two days when we ran into an abandoned carriage full of goods. Since the carriage wasn’t destroyed and nothing appeared to be missing it didn’t look like raiders so we crowded around it to see if we could salvage anything. But while we were doing that another pony crept up to us and got my niece’s attention. I don’t know what he said but he must have asked for help because she ran off with him right away and by the time I noticed she was long gone. We did manage to track her down but when we got there we found… w-w-we found… OH GODESSES!” The mare before me broke into open sobs and it my turn to comfort her. Eventually she ran out of steam and just slumped into me, I was feeling like such a mule for making her go through this story but before I could even bother asking her to stop she pushed herself off me and continued “We found out that it wasn’t a pony at all, the imposter had been a changeling and it had drained her completely dry.” “Hang on I thought changelings fed on emotions like love or fear?” I asked in confusion She smiled grimly “They do but the can also feed directly off a pony’s life force. It fills them up faster than emotions but it will kill the pony their feeding off of. Needless to say when I figured out the truth I personally slaughtered the thing but…but killing it didn’t bring back my Shimmer. After I lost her too I just wandered without purpose till I wound up here. When I became the town’s doctor I swore I wouldn’t let any other fillies get hurt if I could help it then you came along and well… here we are.” “I’m sorry Ana I didn’t mean to upset you so much.” For a second I thought she might break down again but she seemed to steel herself and instead smiled pleasantly at me “It’s ok Snowy the fault was mine, I got so caught up in protecting fillies I forgot that sometimes those fillies need to be out there in the wastes so they can help and protect other ponies. Look at you for instance out of the stable but a day and you already saved the town and I know you will go to the ends of Equestria to find your friend.” My cheeks grew rosy as I listened, sure I had helped Glitter get the purifier parts but she had done most of the work. And looking for Emerald was just something anypony should do for a friend right? Ana just smiled at my blush “Be modest all you want but you’ve done more for this town in two days than I ever did. I’m sorry for snapping at you like I did it was uncalled for, now how about we take a look at that head of yours.” I let myself relax onto the bed while Ana busied herself readying a scanning spell to see what was wrong with me. Admittedly it was nice to find out why she was so upset with me but the mare did have one thing right I was quickly becoming a mass murder, and while it was more or less self-defense and the goddesses in my dreams said they weren’t mad at me for it I was still upset that I had to kill so much. But before I could get to down on myself I felt the warm tingle of the medical pony’s magic on my head “Ok now just try to relax it will probably take me a while to… wait… this can’t be right.” Feeling Ana’s magic abruptly cut off I looked over to see her backing hurriedly away, her eyes wide with worry. I was about to ask her what was wrong when she finally spoke up “U-um Snowy… w-what are you?” “I’m a pegasus silly… why… is something wrong.” Still seeming worried she replied “N-no nothing’s wrong my spell just malfunctioned a bit that’s all. You should be just fine so don’t worry… but please be more careful out there ok?” There was definitely something she wasn’t telling me but seeing as I just got on her good side… more or less I really didn’t want to press the issue, besides one lecture a day is enough. I was slightly surprised to find that Glitter had waited on me. As I approached she stopped tapping her hoof and gave me a slightly scathing look “Where the hay have ya been?” “Well uh I went to get something for my battle-saddle and sell some stuff then I went over to Ana to have her look at my head.” “Why did it take so long are you really that thick skulled?” Frowning slightly I nudged her with a forehoof “No… she just kinda had a… grievance she wanted to express.” She frowned back at me and seemed to ponder for a second before replying “Let me guess she was upset because you’re a filly?” When I nodded my head Glitter sagged slightly “Well come on we need to get going so let’s talk on the way.” *** *** *** As we made our way through the battered skeletal remains of Bucktown for the second time I explained my argument with Ana while Glitter recounted her own encounter with the medical pony. Turns out she was only a little older than I was when she met the older mare but Ana never said much on account of Lawman. “That reminds me.” I said hoping, I wasn’t stepping on another social landmine “I was meaning to ask you… is Lawman you’re…” Glitter chuckled at my nervousness “Ma real dad? Naw I don’t remember where ah came from or ma real parents. Ah was only a little filly when Dad found me outside of the Everfree Forest of all places.” While I wondered to myself what Glitters real parents were like I felt her bump my side “Well” she said with a mischievous grin “I told a bit about my life so now it’s your turn. I want to hear what life was like in a stable.” I wasn’t exactly sure what to say other than life in the stable sucked but I always got the feeling it could have sucked more. At my friends confused glance I decided I should go into more detail. “Life in the stable was pre set, you when where the overmare wanted, when the overmare wanted. There was a set time for work and school, set times for meals, even set times for relaxation, it was all set up and made routine… I hated it.” Glitter tilted her head slightly “So uh… what happened if ya broke the routine?” “Well I didn’t get caught much since my small frame meant I could slip into the ventilation system by when most ponies violated stable law they would get sent to ‘the box’.” The Blue mare chuckled softly “The box huh? That don’t sound too bad.” I frowned darkly at her; the box was much nastier than it appeared to be. I still remembered the time our teacher was caught drinking in class…her pale and huge eyes as they drug her off gave me nightmares. I found out why it was terrifying when I got in there… it hadn’t been a punishment or anything, the security guards never did more than give me a stern talking-to for some reason, but instead I found it by accident while crawling through the vents. ‘The box’ as it was called was small steel room near the stable’s reactor… at least I think it was steel, one of the things that made it so bad was a magical darkness spell you couldn’t see your own forehooves even whit your pip-buck’s light on. I found that out when I tried to activate it and fell into the room, I couldn’t see my muzzle let alone the vent, so I started trotting around franticly and that’s when the noises started. To this day I’m not sure if the sound was from the reactor or some other spell but as I ran around there was a terrible roaring and grinding noise. It scared me so bad I lost my bladder and started flying into the walls. Glitter put a hoof on me “Whoa easy there Snowy, just relax ok. Look ya don’t have to tell me any more I think ah got it… besides there’s the Super-pony Mart.” The building was only one story and looked like it had been through hell, most of the walls had bullet holes of various sizes and all the glass in the windows and doors was shattered. However I was more interested in the fire built in the store’s parking lot and the two raider ponies standing beside it, they hadn’t spotted us but if we stayed in the open they just might. As we slid ourselves down into the ditch at the other side of the road from the store Glitter braced her forehooves on the side and flicked down her scope. She was just about to pull the trigger when I taped her shoulder and she looked over at me “What?” “Don’t take the shot. The glass on the whole front of the building is gone so any raiders inside will hear you.” The mare raised a brow “Inside, outside does it matter? We still need to get through them to get what we want.” “Well yes but if they have any ponies locked up inside they might kill them before we can get to them. So we need to take these two out quietly.” “Raiders don’t usually take prisoners… unless there for ‘entertainment’ but.” she sighed “I suppose your right but how do we get them. I do have a suppresser for my rifle but it’s bolt-action so I couldn’t get them both.” I smiled and flapped my wings “Just let me get airborne and wait for my signal.” The wind rustled my mane as I hovered over the raider pony’s heads. It had taken me a while to find a spot where they wouldn’t see my takeoff but now that I flutter over their heads it became apparent that raiders, like most non-flyers, never thought to look up. Waving my hoof I snapped my wings shut and plummeted down onto the head of the earth-pony raider, his neck snapping with a sick crack as my rear hooves connected with him. His body fell flat as I rolled off him onto my hooves and spun around to face the other raider. The other buck, a unicorn, gaped at me for a second but still had the sense to levitate up the shotgun he had leaning on some rubble… not that I did him much good as there was a dull thunk and half his head disappeared. As Glitter made her way up to me I checked over the dead raider’s shotgun but it was near broken and was cambered in twenty-gauge not twelve. Still I took the shells he had on him as my companion checked the other raider. We both froze as we heard a gruff voice form inside the shop “HEY!! You fuckers keep it down out there or Thorn will geld your asses when she gets back!” We glanced at each other and decided we should wait till they were all dealt with before we looted. Creeping soundlessly up to the door I noticed several posters, I had seen some at the school but all of them were torn or unreadable. These seemed in much better condition except for one that had been painted over. Remember bad ponies are everywhere so report any suspicious activity! The M.O.M is always watching and we will find the bad ponies. Poster made by the M.O.I The one that had painted over read End the tyranny! Down with the ministries! Join the Free Equestrian Legion today! Making a mental note to ask about that later I crept up to the shattered door and poked my head inside. If the outside looked bad the inside was worse, the shelves were mostly destroyed and what was left of the produce was littered all over the floor. Off to the left of the destroyed check-out lanes was a small hallway that seemed to, at one time, house bathrooms. On top of one of the destroyed shelves and milling around an open space were several raiders. Nodding over to Glitter she sighed readied her rifle and I taped the second toggle on my battle-saddle as my shotgun kicked the shell from the chamber and loaded in another one. Steadying myself I rolled behind the checkout counter as I heard the crack of Glitter’s rifle and saw the pony on the Shelves fall with a crash. The other raiders in the store grabbed the weapons and charged the front door. Sliding out from the counter I tongued the right bit of my saddle making my pump-action coughed out a cone of steel spikes from the flechette shell I loaded into it, the leading raider went down in a bloody heap as several spikes sunk into the skin of the three fallowing him causing them jump for cover. Unfortunately before I could take aim again two more raiders, both unicorns, galloped in from farther in the store levitated weapons at the ready. I was really getting tired of the whole magic thing, I mean it must be nice to have but it really unbalances the playing field. There wasn’t any cover as they both opened fire with a pistol and a SMG, thankfully my armor held up better this time taking the impact of most of the rounds with only one or two punching through while Glitter’s rifle cracked again and the SMG raider fell with hole in his chest. The second unicorn tried to backpedal while reloading his pistol, as his magic clicked the slide catch open I wheeled to him and entered my targeting spell putting two shots from my rifle into his shoulder and neck. The other three raiders had just started to peak from their cover when Glitter ran up to me, kicking the bit of her battle-saddle down in favor of her revolver for close combat. Pulling the bit back I ejected the spent shell and loaded buck-shot from the tube. Seeing one of the raiders start to charge I leveled my shotgun till I was forced back into cover by the wild firing of the other two. Hearing the pony getting closer the blue mare beside me twisted so that when the buck hopped up on top of the chewed up counter he got all six of her .45caliber slugs in his throat. While my companions tongued open her revolver’s cylinder to reload I decided to go on the offensive, rolling from cover I charged down the two remaining foes. One of them loading a revolver of his own, without the good sense to do so from cover, I took him down with a burst of twelve-gauge pellets. The final pony franticly turned to me trying to bring his rifle to bear but I was much to close now and the shot missed by a mile. Deciding to save ammo I instead pivoted on my forehooves and kicked my back legs out right into his face. I heard the same crack as before and he fell to the ground twitching. I was shocked as Glitter limped up to me, I had thought I was the only one hit but she had taken a grazing shot to the chest and a small caliber round to the leg. Fortunately her wounds, like mine, were minor so she just tossed me a healing potion as she drank one herself while we got down to looting. We had barely started when a tiny anguished cry echoed through the place. As one we rush toward the bathroom that appeared to have been its source, I arrived first and was greeted by a sight which still haunts me to this day. Chained up in the mare’s room was a little earth-pony filly even younger than I was and covered in filth. What I could see of her coat was deep blue… except for the areas around her mouth and flanks; they were stained yellow, brown, red, and worst of all white. I rushed forward and took the traumatized little pony in my hooves as I heard Glitter walk in behind me and swear “Sweet sky-fucking Celestia NO!” Looking over at her I saw a look on her face that promised slow and painful death to anypony in her way. I was about to say something when the little one griped me tighter and wailed into my chest “Please my momma you have to save my momma! The mean lady said if I let them play with me she wouldn’t hurt my momma, please you have to find her!” Checking my E.F.S I thought of something, the rider had mentored some mare named Thorn and the little filly talked about a mean lady but all the dead raiders were male… and if there went any females among them that meant, I heard hoofsteps and raised voices as my Eyes Forward Sparkle flamed with red “Well fuck” *** *** *** I had changed my mind I didn’t just dislike magic I hated it, especially when that magic was holding an assault rifle which pinned me behind the door of the bathroom. Glitter had made a break before the shooting started, nearly getting her head blown off in the process, and was now across the hall from me. I looked out into the hall at my shotgun lying where the same sniper had sheared it from my battle-saddle as I had tried to cover Glitter. There was no way I could get out the door to use my rifle so I just shrugged the torn saddle from my shoulders and drew my pistol from its holster all the while thinking about how Clara was going to kill me. Seeing a hoof-wave I looked over to see the blue mare’s rifle braced with her hooves as she slid around the door to fire. When I went to cover her I was surprised to see that in my distraction one of the raiders had gotten close to us with an upraised crowbar. My friend tried to reline her shot but there was a loud crack and she fell to the floor with a scream as her stomach splashed red. The crowbar raider continued to close as I hit S.A.T.S and put ten rounds into his body as it skidded past her in a heap. Turning my gun to the other two my heart went cold when I heard the small clink and saw the locked slide of my empty gun. The sniper pony, a female unicorn with half the coat on her face missing, smiled grotesquely and lined up another shot at my friend I’m not sure to this day if I caused it or if it was just blind luck but whatever the case I felt a strange electrical surge run through my body like it had at the stable as one thought went from my very core to my lips “NO!”. Suddenly a glittering golden wall cover the whole hallway in front of us as I ran to Glitter in time to see her chug down all she could get of a healing potion. Turning my head back to the wall I was surprised to see both the rifle and sniper rounds bouncing off it, looking out at the two raiders a new feeling replaced the desperation I had been feeling, anger, I was going to make them pay for what they did. The glittering wall dissipated and the same glow outlined the shelf the sniper was on as it was pulled out from under her then dropped on her flailing body with a satisfying crunch and shriek. The last raider’s eyes bulged in fear as I advanced on him my shotgun floating beside me. He dropped the weapon and fell to his knees begging for mercy. Seeing the buck up close gave me pause, he didn’t look much older than I was and I just couldn’t bring myself to kill a young colt so I racked my pump-action and pointed it at the door, not needing to be told twice he fled screaming something about the goddesses trying to kill him as I continued my advance. Finally I arrived at the trapped mare that had been the leader as she screamed at me “Fuck you stupid mule! When I get out of here I’ll fuck’n gut you!” Not saying anything I just pushed the muzzle against her forehead making her grin psychotically “Do it then ya fuck if ya got the courage.” I pressed my gun more firmly against her but hesitated, I had just spared a pony that was helpless now I was going to kill one? Sliding my gun back I whispered softly “No…I – I’m not an executioner.” The mare just laughed “Typical weakling, guess you just don’t hav…” That was all she got out before her head disappeared in red mist. Glitter trotted up beside me, her rifle back in her saddle and the little filly in tow “She might not be but I certainly am.” She spat out at the corpse. I had expected the filly to be scared of all the bodies but she didn’t even seem to notice them, instead she was looking at me, her eyes filled with something close to wonder. I was about to say something when Glitter looked at me, her own eyes going round, and answered my unasked question “Um Snowy she’s starring at w-well at your horn.” “My…WHAT!” Footnote: Level up Quest perk added: Alicorn blood- - a sudden surge in power reveled your hidden heritage and given you some unique advantages with it (+1 to all s.p.e.c.i.a.l. attributes. skill scores now go up based on use. unlocks magic and flying skills regardless of original body type. New perk: rapid reload- - with quick reflexes you can put a round in the camber when it counts (all guns now reload 45% faster.) Skill notes: Magic skill unlocked! Magic now at 25 New spells: Telekinesis - level 2 Shield spell - level 2
Chapter 8: Official Business With my mind as jumbled as it was it didn’t surprise me when my dreams were jumbled and chaotic. They bounced at random from topic to topic much faster than I could keep up. It was somewhat surprising then when my dreamscape shifted and I found myself once again in the brightly lit throne room where I had dreamed about the goddesses. The room was familiar to me but the pony waiting for me gave pause. For the first time since I had been there Princess Luna sat alone on the throne. Her mane was still flowing but much more slowly than normal and she looked exhausted. Still as I took a step forward she smiled tiredly at me and even chuckled a bit when I bowed “We welcome thee dear Snowy Flanks. It brings us happiness to see that thou art well and we would like to apologize for our raged demeanor.” Nervously I glanced around the room “Thank you Princess but what’s wrong with you, where is your sister, and why are you… talking like that.” Blushing profusely Princess Luna ran a hoof through her mane “We beg thine forgiveness but we… that is to say I cannot help it. We… I, am very weak and it has caused… me to slip into the old ways of speech. But worry not for me fair Snowy it is our sister that deserves thine concern.” “I don’t understand princess, what’s happening to you and Princess Celestia? I don’t mean to push you but I just… I have so many questions.” Seeing the goddess of the night’s legs shake violently as she stood sent a shiver down my spine but she did her best to reassure me “We understand thy curiosity little one. Though we…I am tired I’ll my best to answer them. First however th… you must try and be calm.” I was determined do as she asked so after taking a moment to collect myself I asked the most pressing question I could think of “Princess you say something has you weak but what is it? Is that why your sister isn’t here?” “We shall try our best to explain, we’re sure by now that thou have heard of the disaster at Ponyville. Well the one responsible has been gaining power for the last two hundred years and now he’s gotten so strong he has begun affecting us here.” Something powerful enough was a pretty frightening concept but I still had many questions so I’d have to come back to that one “Does that mean that you’re still alive Princess? How is that even possible when the entire town is nothing but a crater?” “Just because there is not but a crater there now dose that automatically mean that the town is destroyed?” Were it any other pony who asked me I would have said no but judging by her mischievous smile I had a feeling she knew something I didn’t. Saying as much I watched the princess nod slightly and step shakily towards one of the massive windows. Stepping over beside her I gazed out at the massive white walls of a castle and a small town on the edge of a massive forest, at my inquisitive look she the night goddess explained “This is but a projection obviously but this the town of Ponyville as we remember it. Before our disappearance we and the elements of harmony journeyed to the little village as the starting area for a quest that would hopefully bring an end to the fighting. However before we could even start our journey we were betrayed from within and in the fighting our adversary used great sorcery to trap us all in magical, space distorting, bubbles and fling them all across Equestria.” *** *** *** I don’t think my heart actually stopped but it felt like it did. Somewhere out in the wasteland the goddesses and the ministry mares were still alive, but before I could really celebrate a little pony in my head reminded me ‘But you don’t know where these bubble things are, how many there are, or even what they look like. Beside how were you planning to get them out, with the magic you don’t know?’ After explaining in detail where that pony should go to voice further statements I took a moment to look over Luna. She looked more tired every time I saw her but I still couldn’t help but feel safe and protected standing next to her. With a start I realized I had moved up beside her and hadn’t even realized it. The dusky alicorn smiled warmly and nuzzled my blushing face gently. Before I could reply to the affection she answered my unasked questions as if reading my mind “We are sorry Snowy but We don’t know the locations of the distortion spheres but when the spell first took affect we… that is to say my sister and I used our own magic to observe the spell. Form that tiny glimpse we can tell th… you that there are eight of them, aside from that We cannot give thee any more information.” Well that didn’t help matters any but I still had to try, I mean how often does a pony find out that two of the princesses and some of the greatest heroes of Equestria were still out there… somewhere. Still if I was ever going to do anything about it I’d need more information “So Princess you said that you caught a glimpse of the spell? If that’s the case do you know what it is and how to break it?” “Indeed We do our little pony; the spell was crafted by our own Ministry of Arcane Sciences for the Ministry of Peace. It was a spell for keeping ponies safe till they could be treated called crystalline slumber.” Listening to the princess describe the effects of the spell and its use I was reminded once again how crazy magic really was. A spell that transmuted a pony’s body into nigh- indestructible crystal while also putting their mind into a dreamless sleep with the ability to turn them back to normal as soon as they reached a hospital seemed so farfetched that I wouldn’t have believed it if it wasn’t Luna saying it. “So you’re saying that you, your sister, and the ministry mares are scattered all across Equestria trapped in bubbles and in a magical sleep thanks to that spell?” “That is… more or less an accurate assumption yes.” There was something off about her response but seeing how weak she was I decided not to press her about it. Regardless I now had a purpose; I was going to find all of the distortion spheres because if anything could help the wasteland it was the princesses and the elements of harmony. With that in mind I still had one question I need to ask “Ok Princess now that I know what the spell is how do I break it?” Luna seemed lost in thought for a moment before replying “Well first thou would need to enter the distortion sphere which should is something thou may do by touching it with thy horn. As for the spell itself, there is a counter-spell though we doubt it will work, our adversary would have been foalish indeed not to have altered the spell against it. Do not despair however as there is another way, the one who trapped us was indeed powerful We don’t think they were strong enough to enact both spells at once on so large a scale. To that end We believe there must have been some kind of objects hidden in the town before we ever arrived designed to unleash the crystalline slumber upon activation, if thou canst find and destroy them thou could possibly break the spell.” After telling me this Luna shuddered slightly before slumping to the floor and gazing at me sadly “We… I apologize Snowy buy my time here is up. I wish I could stay longer but… so very tired.” My heart ached to see the princess like this so I quickly bade her farewell before closing my eyes and letting my dreams return to whisk me away into sleep. *** *** *** I awoke sometime later to the sound of a hoof tapping my door. Letting out a response in a language made of yawns and mumbling I was most of the way to the door before I realized my glamor wasn’t up. After fixing that problem I opened the portal to be greeted by cool smile of dusk as the earth-pony wished me good morning and asked me to follow him. As he tuned on his hind leg and walked away I hurried to catch up with him. After checking to make sure I was behind him he slowed his pace slightly saying “I apologize for waking you so early and not giving you a chance at breakfast but the mayor is eager to see you and she isn’t a pony to keep waiting.” The unease in my mind was almost palpable, I had no idea what this mayor wanted or even what kind of pony she way and I was just going walk into a meeting with her. That being said I also got the feeling I didn’t have much choice in the matter. I was most likely only let in here because the mayor wanted something from me and I doubted my welcome would last long if I didn’t at least talk to her. Resining myself a bit I let Dusk lead me back through the lobby and into the elevator. After pressing the button for the topmost floor Dusk turned to face me “Now meeting the mayor can be a little unnerving at times but she is very special to the community so treat her with respect.” Reaching the top of the building we stepped out into a small waiting room with a few chairs and a desk and a large door across the room. Letting us inside after seeing Dusk the young secretary tried, and failed not to stare at me but I brushed it off as the pony beside me announced our arrival and I had to gape at the sight before me. *** *** *** When the black pony beside me announced our arrival I barely had time to take in the extremely opulent office before the high-backed leather chair spun around dramatically, the pony sitting in it bringing their hooves down on the desk in front of them with a thud, and I came face to face with the fourth ghoul I’d met in the wastes. Her tan coat was much more intact than any ghoul I had seen though her pink mane was a little patchy. Staring down at us her cold azure eyes I had the feeling that she was a shrewd pony who only took calculated risks and was at that very moment deciding if I was worth it. Apparently I passed the test since after a moment or two she pulled her hooves back into a more reserved posture and spoke with the confidence of somepony used to holding public office “Welcome to Green Meadows Miss Flanks I trust you slept well.” I didn’t remember telling anypony my last name but decided not to bring it up just yet “Yes actually, the bed was very soft and Calla Lily was a great host. For the moment however I’d like to know why you called me in here Miss… um?” “As the mayor of the town I would prefer to be addressed as such.” Ok that answered that question. I got the feeling that I wasn’t going to get any information I didn’t absolutely need and while I didn’t like it there also wasn’t much choice “Very well Miss. Mayor now let’s get back to my first question if we could.” The ghoul smiled slightly “A pony who doesn’t waste time getting down to business, I like that. Sine you asked there are several threats faceting this community, threats that must be dealt with, but also threats I don’t feel comfortable using my security force to stop.” “And that’s where I come in right? You want me to deal with these problems for you.” She chuckled softly “It’s good to see that you’re not a moron. Simply put you seem like somepony who can take care of a problem and you have ability’s that my guards do not. So yes I want you to work for me to deal with these threats, I’ll pay you well and also give you a place to stay at the inn.” I wasn’t sure I wanted to take the jobs, the last thing I needed was another big faction to worry about, but I also had no idea what to do next otherwise. Despite the fact that I knew that there was something she wasn’t telling me and that she made my skin crawl like no other I decided I’d see if the jobs were worth my while. Apparently I had been thinking a bit too openly as she smiled when I reached a decision “The first task is short and simple, there are a group of raiders in an old rest area north of us. They had been living up in Fetlock but the Vanguard pushed them down here where they began harassing caravans when they went out to trade. As such I want them eliminated.” “Well that sounds easy enough, what’s the catch?” I saw a faint glimmer of something bordering on pride in her eyes as she replied “The catch as you say is the second job since in deals with the very reason the raiders were pushed south to begin with.” Wait but she said that… oh buck me hard As if reading my mind she continued “I’m sure you noticed the large hole in my glorious building. It was caused by a vanguard artillery cannon. In their infinite wisdom they decided that when they pushed south from Manehatten to cover their flanks they would destroy any raiders they displaced with heavy firepower. As you can see their extremely long of the mark, most of the shots landed away from the building but I’d rather not risk a second hit. I want those guns silenced and I don’t care how you do it.” After that she waved us off with a dismissive hoof saying “After your done come back and we’ll discuss payment and the third task I have for you.” *** *** *** Walking back to my room at the inn my head was once again drowning in thoughts. The mayor had ostensibly given the job to me so the town wouldn’t be targeted in any retaliation. However given the fact that the Vanguard wouldn’t care if I was acting under her orders of not this all stank of her testing to see what I was capable of and if I could be bought. Still it was bottle caps I could use and a place to stay while I came up with a better idea of what to do next other than look for my friends. On that note I thought over the groups of ponies I had met since I left the stable. The Vanguard and I probably weren’t going to be buddying up anytime soon, that being said they obviously wanted me for something even if I didn’t know what it was. Then there was the Enclave. One would think I’d be happy to learn there were more pegesi out here but really I was more angry than anything. It aggravated me that I knew even less about them than I did about the Vanguard but there wasn’t any way learn more unless I went back above the clouds which I wasn’t about to do after Windy’s warning. What I did know is that they were monitoring me and my movements, though again I hadn’t a clue as to how or why. Frustrated by my lack of knowledge I tossed myself on the bed with an exasperated sigh, there had to be somepony I could ask about this kind of stuff but at the moment all I could think of was Solaris and at this point I trusted her about as far as I could throw her without magic. I was so lost in thought I almost didn’t hear the knock at my door. Slipping wearily off my bed I trotted over and popped the door open, nearly colliding with the first welcome sight I had all day. Glitter stood in the hallway with a sheepish smile and her hat in her hooves. Resisting the urge to hug her I put on the best face of cool indifference I could saying “Well well took you long enough to get here didn’t it?” “I apologize Snowy, and I’m very sorry for running off like I did back at the farmhouse but I had to get the ghouls to safety you understand.” Her response struck me as all kinds of wrong but I wasn’t about to say anything just yet. Instead I moved to the side and let her into the room. It was then that I noticed it, she had on her coat, and clothes, and even her hat but there was something crucial she was very obviously lacking. Deciding once again not to use the direct approach I walked over to the miniature fridge I had in my room. I had seen devices like this in the stable though why one was here I hadn’t thought to ask. Pulling some food from it I sat down opposite her at the small table on the far wall “Ok that’s fine but what took you so long to find me in the first place?” I caught sight of her fidgeting in her chair as she responded “Well I was really worried about making sure you were all right but when I decided to turn back the sky started to act very strange. It started to move, not like it was drifting but like somepony was actually pulling at the clouds. Of course at the time I didn’t know it was you so I was understandably scared.” Ok I’ll admit that explanation did make a certain amount of sense, I myself wasn’t sure I could pull that stunt off till I did it. Still something was seriously off with her so I told her to continue, hoping to figure out the issue. “So I waited for a day or two till everything calmed down then I went back to the farm house. When I got there and found that other alicorn I feared the worst but thankfully you were still all right.” Nodding a bit I though back to her surprise appearance on how awkward the conversation with Zephyr must have been beforehoof “That part I remember but where did you go after you left?” She looked more uncomfortable by the second “W-well after that I got my things together and led those ghouls up here to rest… and even found a room for myself. Then I just waited for you to get here so… so if you want to get technical y-you were the one who took your sweet time in getting here.” I had heard enough, there was something incredibly fishy going on here and it was time to do something about it. Doping my line questioning to help put her at ease I waited till we finished our meal and she went to leave before going over to my gear like I was checking to see where ever thing was. Hearing her place a hoof on the door leaver I quickly asked if she could lend me a hoof in trying to find something. I could almost taste the reluctance with which she agreed, as she stepped back towards me I made sure I was ready before saying “You know Glitter there’s one major problem with your story.” I felt her draw up short “Um… r-really and what exactly would that be?” “I’m the only non-earth-pony in Green Meadows.” With that I spun to face her catching sight of the panic in her eyes as, for the first time in weeks, my shotgun roared to life, *** *** *** I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when I fired two shells from my pump-action as fast as I could work it. But I’ll tell you one thing, I wasn’t expecting there to be a bright flash of green light and a hideous shriek. By the time that the first pink and yellow striped hull of the beanbag shell had it the floor my friend had vanished and in her place lay a terrifying creature that looked like someone had taken a unicorn, fused it with a beetle then drilled holes in its legs. The thing shudder, hissing in pain and anger, as it tried to shake out the cobwebs in in head. Realizing I didn’t have time I sprang on top of it nuzzling my shotgun barrel to its cheek. As it looked up, blue eyes wide with fear, I tried my best to place where I had seen it before. I knew it looked familiar but in my own panicked mind I was drawing a blank. Suddenly I heard a rapid hammering on my door and a panicked voice shouting “Snowy! What in the bucking name of Tartarus is going on in there?!” There may have been more but I didn’t hear it because as soon as I dropped my guard I got a solid hoof to the temple. Seeing stars I wasn’t anywhere near ready for its two back hooves to slam into my chest and send me crashing into the wall. The last thing I heard was a startled shout and a few more gunshots. *** *** *** I was more than a bit groggy and in a fair amount of pain when I came to. My head was throbbing and my breast felt like it was on fire but thankfully nothing felt broken. Groaning slightly I was stunned for a moment as I felt a damp cloth press over one side of my forehead. Shifting my eyes to the left was confused to see Calla Lily sitting at my bedside wiping me with a rag. Smelling at my return to consciousness she pressed the cloth a bit more firmly over my left eye “Glad to see you’re awake finally, I was getting a bit worried. It’s also nice to know I’m not the only pony with a secret.” What secret was she talking about? It took me a moment before I remember my shotgun… I had been using my shotgun, and to do that I needed magic, and to use magic I had to… Confirming my worst fear I felt her nudge the spiral appendage above my head with a giggle. Seeming to sense my unease she patted my reassuringly on the leg while running the rag over my head again “Listen Snowy if your horn was a problem with me I would have already called the guards. I’ll admit I’m curious about where it came from and why I didn’t see it. But before we trade secrets why don’t you tell me what a changeling was doing in your room.” As if turning on a light bulb it clicked, that thing had been a changeling. I had seen them in some of the books and things I’d read back in the stable though they were a lot more intimidating up close. Just after that realization came a second, after that thing had knocked me across the room it had bolted out the door… right into the mare next to me. Tensing a little I looked her over but she seemed to be fine. Seemingly following my gaze she smiled a little saying “Don’t you worry about me none, he was more concerned about getting away than fighting me. Still think I managed to put a bullet in him though.” To emphasize her point a beautiful long barreled revolver floated up next to her. But why was it floating? It couldn’t have been me, my aura was gold and I wasn’t using magic. Also why was a bit of her hair glowing “If I’m going to ask about your secrets it’s only fair I tell ya mine.” she said as she pulled her mane to the side. As it turns out I was in point of fact the second non-earth-pony in town if her white horn was any indication. But something was wrong with it, it looked small and brittle “Um Lily what’s wrong with your horn?” It took me a full three seconds to realize how incredibly tactless I had just been and I very nearly shoved a hoof in my mouth as though trying to take it back. For her part the mare just giggle at my display before replying sadly “It looks like that because its stunted after growing back.” Setting down the gun and rag the stunted unicorn peered intently at what I had to assume was an open wound on my head before whistling softly “Boy you sure it that wall hard, if it wasn’t for the fact that there was a changeling I’d consider making you pay for that giant horn-hole in the wall.” Oddly that comment struck me as funny and I soon found myself laughing uncontrollably. Shortly after Lily joined in and we both sat there a while laughing like madponies. After finally managing to regain my composure I realized that you shouldn’t laugh with a bruised up chest. None the less was glad that the tension between us had gone. Managing to settle down herself the white mare leaned back in her chair as though trying to think up the best start to her story. “Well like I told you before, after training as best I could I left home in search of the raiders that hurt my town. They weren’t exactly hard to find and soon enough I had them all dead and accounted for. You would think that after that I would have just gone home right… well I didn’t.” From the glint in her eyes I guessed that it wasn’t because she couldn’t. Taking a second to adjust in her seat she continued “I got my cutiemark after helping to save my town but I didn’t understand what it meant till I got my revenge. After seeing all the ponies I’d helped when killing those raiders I realized my talent wasn’t just killing but bringing peace with my guns. So I travelled all over the wastes, from Stalliongrad all the way down to Hoofington, fighting raiders and slavers and other nefarious ponies and for a while it worked out great. Everywhere I went ponies got to live their lives without fear and I even managed to start a small group of ponies, called the Sentinels dedicated to stopping evil in the wastes like I was.” From what I had seen of the wastes so far I could sense a huge but coming on in her story. Wanting to head it off at the pass I decided to inquire what went wrong first. “I pissed off the wrong pony is what. When you do what I did you tend to make a lot of enemies, some smarter than others, and it was one of them that finally got the better of me. He had been the head of a group of slavers out at Appaloosa before we stopped him. All his men were dealt with but the mule was a crafty one and managed to escape, we should have gone after him but we were more worried about his former property so we didn’t… it was a decision that still haunts me.” *** *** *** While I listened to Lily explaining exactly how the stallion had gathered together anypony he could find slowly kill off all of her friends and eventually capture her it was hard to believe that there could be somepony full of that much hate. In my time outside the stable I’d met plenty of raiders and other ponies made of anger but something like that took a special brand of monster. Trying her best to look casual she finished up her story “After he got his hooves on me… well you can guess what happened. When he finished he had taken my friends, my home, my horn and even my virginity, but my will proved a bit harder to surmount.” “But how in Equestria did you escape!” At this her smile turned frightening “The fool underestimated how much a pony can do if they needed to. I was determined to payback for my friends he’d had killed and there was no way I would let him win. So when he simply chained me to a wall by my hind leg I took my chances… pony teeth might not be as sharp as a dragon’s but they get the job done.” My body went cold for a moment, it was almost impossible comprehend what she was saying but I could tell it was no lie. I couldn’t imagine having to do something like that. Looking over I could see she was having a hard time continuing. Trying to keep her from breaking down decided to start my tale and seeing as she was honest with me, at least as far as I could tell, I decided not to hide anything. By the time I finished I wasn’t the only one with big eyes. I didn’t think my story was anywhere near as exciting as hers but she seemed to disagree, “So you’re telling me that you came out of your stable and within two weeks you turned into and alicorn and lost one of your legs? I have to say that you don’t waste any time do you?” I had to admit my own story did sound more than a little incredulous but since I was there I knew it to be true “ I know it sound kind of crazy, especially my conversations with the princesses. I mean even I don’t know for sure if they even happened or if I was just dreaming.” “Well I’ll admit it does sound a little hard to swallow but you in fact an alicorn and I’ve seen all kinds of strange things in my journey in the waists so who can say really.” Having somepony tell me I wasn’t necessarily crazy felt real good. I wasn’t even sure why I opened up to her, maybe it was her prosthetic hoof, or the fact that she apparently had a secrete of her own, or maybe it was something else entirely… I didn’t know but I was incredibly glad I did. Biting her lip a moment she looked me over “While it certainly was an interesting story it still doesn’t explain why a changeling was in here trying to pass off as a friend of yours.” That part had me stumped I’ll admit. Up till that point I’d never even seen a changeling up close so when one beat me senseless in less than ten seconds I was… let’s just say eager to find out who they were and why they wanted me. As I pulled myself from the bed it took a moment to orient myself. My chest still throbbed a bit though my head felt much better. Standing up I made to grab my gear and head out and was surprised when Lily stopped me saying “Don’t even bother trying to look for him that changeling could look like anypony so there’s no way you’d find them unless they wanted you to.” “All right fine but what do you suggest I do then?” While levitating her gun and rag out the door in front of her she turned back for a moment and advised me to go on like nothing was wrong while she looked into the matter. I was understandably hesitant to not try and find him, I didn’t like having to look over my shoulder all the time, but the truth was I had no clue how to even start searching for… stallion? I think she said it was male bit I wasn’t sure. Deciding to follow her advice for now I loaded my gear back up, put my glamor back up, and headed to the elevator. Everypony in the lobby stared at me still but it appeared that word had spread that I was on a mission from the mayor as I was allowed to leave unmolested. *** *** *** I hadn’t realized just far north I had come. I was used to rocks and trees but here I could see homes and the massive city of Manehatten far in the distance. Even though I was still a ways from the city I could clearly make out the sprawling suburb of Fetlock. Taking my first steps forward I started road toward the rest-stop where the raiders were supposed to be. I could have just flown there but I didn’t want them to know I was coming, no point in getting shot if you don’t need to, so instead I chose to just hoof it. It took more than two hours but the payoff was worth it. As I crawled up to the three buildings that made up the rest area none of the assembled raiders seemed to have any idea I was there. Now the only hitch in my plan is that were about twenty of them! I might have been able to handle half that number, if I was feeling a little generous with myself, but I had no idea how to deal with all of them. My situation was only made worse by the fact that there wasn’t any cover between my hiding spot by the road and the building at the rest-stop. The only solution I could come up with, besides running back to town with my tail between my legs, was trying to get on the roof of one of the buildings. From there I could start picking off raiders at will. My plan as formed up as it would ever be I dropped my spell, pulled out my rifle, and took to the air. Flying hard to the nearest roof I almost took a bullet to the face and had to snap into a quick dive as the ponies below realized what was going on. Unfortunately my dive put me on a collision course with the roof and I landed a lot harder than I would have liked. Still I was on the roof now I just had to figure out what to do next. Pulling myself up I could already hear the sounds of bullets pinging of the small wall the roof had, I pulled my rifle back from where it landed and peaked over the edge. Most of the raider-ponies were arrayed around me, either firing wildly at my position or running into the building itself, but some were rushing off in the opposite direction. Lifting up for a moment I opened up on the fleeing raiders, my rifle fire killed two and wounded a third before I was forced to duck back down. Loading a fresh mag into my rifle I chanced a peek over the wall. Several raiders appeared to be going inside the building I was on. Quickly scanning the roof I realized my mistake, of the four roofs I could land on I had picked the one with a trap door leading down… buck me. *** *** *** The first raider to burst through the door ran face first into my shotgun. The buckshot tore through his face and he fell back with a strangled cry. I had plenty of shells but I didn’t know how may were going to be following him so I had to get of the roof. Rushing over I jumped into the trap-door and collided into another raider. Thankfully my hooves connected first sending the stallion tumbling back with me right after. As I thudded to the bottom of the stairway leading up I scrambled for cover behind some shelves, taking a few rounds to the side for my trouble, in what appeared to be a small store. Bullets ricocheted all around me so I lifted my shotgun over the top and fired blind. Four shells later I peeked out to the side and caught sight of two dead and dying raiders bleeding out on the floor. I advanced cautiously towards the fallen ponies when a tiny clatter alerted me to a presence behind me. Whirling around I found myself facing a young filly and colt in patched armor and crude weapons. Seeing me turn they immediately dropped their guns in terror with the stallion saying “Please princess don’t hurt my sister!” Before I could I even reply I heard a strange hissing sound and saw something flying towards the window of the store. Rushing towards the two ponies I threw my shield my around the three of us as the world exploded. I still remembered when Glitter had used the first grenade I had seen but it was nothing compared to the rocket launcher the raiders had dug up from somewhere. Pulling myself to my hooves I looked out at the rubble that used to be a shop, there was a huge hole in the front and the counter and most of the shelves were smoking wrecks. Outside I could see another ten or so ponies milling outside. Beside me I caught sight of the two other unicorns coming back their senses, my shield had held against the blast but they still seemed dazed. I realized I’d have to keep them out of harm’s way, raider or no they were unarmed and way too young to be out here, so I quickly pushed them to the floor and dropped my shield before making yet another foalish move and charging out of the building. Up till that point I hadn’t engaged in too much hoof-to- hoof combat. Diving into the middle of the group I kicked out my metal hoof and heard the satisfying crack of it connecting with another pony’s jaw. Twisting over on my front hooves I brought both back legs down on the head of a second mare. The other raiders took a second to react to my sudden presence among them before charging in to join the melee. All of my opponents were unicorns and it became more and more of a challenge to keep ahead of them. Finally realizing I was getting in over my head I spread my wings and leapt into the air before Pain! I had felt pain many times but it was nothing compared to the agony flowing through my body as one of the remaining raiders saw my attempted escape and stopped it with jagged spear through my wing. Crashing back to the ground I flung my shield back up in a desperate attempt to keep them away from me even as they swarmed towards my bleeding form. The spear weighed heavily on my wing and there was no way I could fly, my shield was already starting to flicker and I was exhausted. Pulling out my shotgun I prepared for a last stand so it was surprising to hear the thundering of charging hooves and shouting of other ponies. At first I thought it was more raiders come to finish me off till I heard the telltale whir of miniguns and saw the gleaming grey power armor of the other reason I was sent out here. Suddenly the air around my bubble was filled with lead, blood, and the screams of dying ponies. It was over in seconds as the vanguard troops fanned out in front of me. Not about to drop my only protection I used what little magic I had left to shakily levitate every gun I could find on the corpses and point them in front of me. They hadn’t done the raiders any good but who knew I might have even been able to dent their armor before I was a smear on the ground. As it turns out it wasn’t necessary as the pony at the center of the group took a step forward saying “Well he was right. You’re just as powerful, determined, and dense as Emerald said you’d be.” Hearing my friends name made me lower the weapons back to the ground and in return all of the vanguard ponies eased out of their aggressive stances, with the commander going so far as to take his helmet off revealing a heavily scared grey head and shockingly bright orange mane “The names Paladin Sidewinder. How about you put that shield down missy and we talk like civilized folk. I swear on my life we won’t try anything funny, aside from maybe trying to get that hunk of wood and rusty metal out of your wing.” “How do you know about me and Emerald and why in Celestia’s mane should I trust you?” The older stallion sighed gruffly “Listen I don’t want to do this the hard way but your friends in trouble and if you want to help him you’re going to have to trust me.” That got my attention. I wasn’t sure I was ready to believe him further but I decided it couldn’t hurt to hear what he had to say. Giving a few more moments to decided I finally let my shield drop “All right then I’ll listen to what you want to say.” I could see he looked visibly relieved “Well all right then let’s get down to business.” *** *** *** Moving with my freshly bandaged wing was still awkward but still I couldn’t really complain too much seeing as the two young ponies I had met earlier were still unconscious in the room behind me. I had come back in after the talk with Sidewinder to find them both conked out; they seemed unhurt if a bit under fed so I assumed the explosion just hit them harder than it hit me. But as I lay there on the ratty mattress and tried my best not to pick at my injured wing my only thoughts were on me new goal. I was going to find a pony by the name of Nightshade or as I knew her Ruby Cross.
Footnote: level up Skill notes Unarmed now at 25
(Authors notes: Well here we go everypony sorry it to so long but this one was entirely my own fault. I got guildwars 2 when it came out and my productivity took a major hit after that. That being said I should be more on time in to future though I won’t give an exact date so I don’t jinx it. Anyway thanks for sticking with me and have a good time.)
Chapter 9: Little Ruby Lie I awoke the next morning to hushed voices in the room behind me. After the fight I found that one of the buildings had been some kind of bunkhouse that the raiders had been sleeping in. I had pulled the two survivors into the back and had, myself, slept in a reception area in the front. Sleeping on an old mattress laid over a desk wasn’t the best nights rest I’d ever had still I had other things to worry about. Trotting over to the door I listened to the voices of the two young ponies just behind it. I considered drawing a weapon but figured it would be counterintuitive; I didn’t want to fight them if I could help it. So instead I lifted a hoof to the door and knocked. The ponies inside immediately went quiet before a tiny, terrified voice floated through the door “H-hello… who’s there?” “My name is Snowy Flanks and I’m not going to hurt you. So long as you don’t try to harm me all I want is to talk.” I wasn’t sure they would believe me but I had to try anyway. Pushing the door open the two foals backed away slowly, their eyes full of fear. Slowly levitating my combat harness off I flung it back into the next room saying “See now I’m unarmed to so why don’t we just talk for a while.” Standing in front of his younger sister the brown colt tried to put on a brave face, though the affect was ruined by the shaking in his legs “What d-do you want from us then? Everypony else is dead and we don’t have anything of value anyway.” “Well I don’t know about that, the rocket launcher they used on us has to be worth some bottle caps. Besides I’m not here for valuables I just want to know what you two are doing out here with raiders.” At this they seemed confused “Raiders… what are you talking about Princess?” I felt ice stab my chest “They… t-they weren’t raiders? But… I…” But what? The only proof I had that they had been raiders was the word of a mare I didn’t know and the fact that they shot at me which wasn’t really all that much to go on. Before I could get to worrying to badly the little pink coated filly finally spoke “Come on Dusty they may not have been riders but they weren’t much better. Remember the time they let that mare die because she was an earth-pony.” The brown colt turned sharply to face his sister “Well ok that’s true but what were we supposed to do! They may not have been good ponies but they’re the only ones who were trying to give that bitch what she deserves.” Not wanting to watch two foals fight and still needing some answers I stepped in-between them “Ok hang on then, if they weren’t raiders then who were they?” The small filly replied nervously “They were members of the Free Horntown Militia.” Horntown… I remember the name, vaguely, from the sign next to the path to Green Meadows. So if that was a town what was their militia doing raiding trade from the mayor? I still needed more answers before I could get anywhere. Slumping tiredly onto one of the torn beds slipping my head between my hooves “Listen I don’t mean to sound rude but could you please slow down and explain things. I have a lot on my mind right now.” “Uh sure Princess, I guess we should explain why we’re here.” *** *** *** After listening to their story I managed to piece together that Horntown was a settlement made entirely of unicorns. That would explain why there were only earth-ponies in Green Meadows but judging from what I heard former was in much worse shape than the latter. That still left the problem of what to do with Dusty and Shimmer. The made it clear they didn’t want to go back home and I wasn’t about to just leave them out here, regardless of whether Sidewinder was telling the truth or not I didn’t think the Vanguard would leave them alone. So that meant I’d have to take them with me. Not something I was looking forward to since I was going to try and get somepony to talk to the one group she didn’t want to see. Part of me wanted to go question the mayor to see just how much she knew about this but the fact was I didn’t have the time, blood, or ammunition to go charging off after another mystery. If there were groups of unicorns trying to destabilize the Mayor’s hold of the area it wasn’t exactly my problem, and I had enough of them to go around anyway. Turning back to the two foals “Alright then listen. I’m not going to leave you two here so you’re going to come with me to the south.” “T-to the south why are we going there?” They seemed unsure and really who could blame them, I had just literally swooped in and told them they were coming with me. Wanting to allay their worry I decided to explain “There’s a pony there I have to talk to and it’s a safe place for you two to stay.” Dusty looked about ready to refuse when the little filly behind him took a step forward “Dusty I think we should go with her.” The colts jaw just about hit the floor as he rounded on his sister “But why!?” “I know that you’re upset at mom and dad and want to fix things but we can’t keep doing this. This group of ponies didn’t want to hurt us but what if that weren’t the case or even worse what if they wanted us to kill other ponies?” I could tell by the look on his face the colt hadn’t thought of that. Still with things more or less resolved now I could get them to a place of, relative, safety while I tried to find a more permanent solution. Letting them take the time gather up their things if stepped back into the front office and pulled my own gear back on before looking over the meager loot I’d pulled from the unicorns outside. Most of it was in poor repair and just about all of the weapons were low caliber pop-guns. Still the launcher was still worth some caps even without any rockets and I could use their worthless armor to patch up the new holes in my own abused set. Thankfully the group had hat least managed to get their hooves on a real treasure, an I.F. 46 Falcon. It was an improvement on my rifle in just about every way, it had a larger magazine and was more accurate and that particular model even had a rail system for mounting attachments. Setting down to work on my armor I checked over the gun, I would need to replace the barrel with the one in my current rifle but other than that it was in remarkably good shape. Putting it aside from now I got back to the task at hoof, my armor was thrashed once again and this time their wasn’t that much I could do. The leather plates were at this point more patch than leather and most of the straps were in tatters. Unfortunately I didn’t have too many options for a replacement, though when I thought about it I was kind of glad. Back in the stable I never would have even thought about wearing something made from animal skin, just another sign that I had changed. Finishing up what repairs I could on my gear I had just turned around to see the two foals step into the room behind me when the sound of flapping wings and red bars on my E.F.S. alerted me to our impending company. Something about the wing-beats was odd though, they seemed slower and heavier than a pony’s. Unlike the shop I had been in yesterday the building we were in now only had one window in the front, close by the door so after telling the two foals to step back into the bedroom I crawled my way over the said window. Sitting underneath the window I listened to the flapping stop as our uninvited guests landed with an odd clattering noise. Hearing the sound of guns priming I took a second to peak outside and I finally realized what our company was… and why we were screwed. *** *** *** Griffins… the first one I had ever seen up-close had been dead after nearly succeeding in blowing my head off. Now there were four of them and if the symbols on their armor were any indication they were also from Talon-company. Seeing the worry in the eyes of my newest companions I tried my best to find a way out. I really didn’t want to fight the Talons but I couldn’t just sit there and wait, desperately shuffling through my inventory I found something I had almost forgot about… Angle’s Mercy. Ruby had given me the gun when I left for Ponyville and I hadn’t even thought about it till now. Though I wasn’t used to using energy weapons it was the only thing I had to could end the confrontation quickly. While I readied the weapon the griffins steadily approached the door. I only had a few spare spark batteries and without any healing potions I wasn’t going to be flying anywhere. Inserting one of my six total batteries I heard the comforting hum of the gun charging up when suddenly one of the mercs shouted “We know you’re in there so why don’t you come on out. I found Claudia; since you actually took the time to bury her I promise ill make it quick and clean.” I on the other hoof had other ideas, listening to them step closer I motioned for the foals hide and flung the door open. My adversaries were surprised by the sudden movement, giving me the moment I needed point the gun in the general direction of one of them and push what I hoped was the trigger. There wasn’t any recoil when it fired and the pinkish-red beam arced out, catching one of the griffins full in the face and dropping him. The other three reacted instantly, opening fire on the door with a roar of thunder. I tucked my head back inside as the doorframe erupted in splintered wood. Personally I’d have liked stay in cover but I couldn’t just let them keep shooting at us. Flicking my shield back on I slipped back around the corner and peppered the three remaining griffins, managing to bring down another before the remaining two returned fire. Instead of falling back however I pressed forward under the onslaught, waiting till one of them reloaded before firing the last of the energy from the gun’s spark-battery and taking down the third griffin leaving only the fourth with the light machinegun standing. My shield sparked and stuttered dangerously and Angle’s Mercy dropped to the ground as I concentrated all my remaining magic on keeping my protection up. I continued my forward charge, I didn’t have the strength to levitate up another gun and since I couldn’t fly that left only one option. As I cleared the last few feet my shield finally broke and several bullets tore into my body but I wasn’t about to be turned away now, pushing with all the strength I had left in my hind legs I launched myself at the started bird-lion. The sickening sound of pierced flesh greeted me as I thudded, horn first, into the startled griffin. I can still remember the shock in his eyes as he stared down at horn sticking out of his throat, he gargled out something unintelligible as his gun fell with a clatter. Pulling my horn out with a yank I took a few shaking steps back from the wounded griffin. Surprisingly he wasn’t dead, through sheer chance I had managed not to mortally wound him though he was bleeding out fast. I wasn’t very far behind him to be honest, after taking several more pieces of led into my body I wasn’t going to be running any marathons. That being said I didn’t want him to die like that so I rushed forward and began franticly searching through his belongings. Luckily I managed to find a healing potion quickly and though I didn’t give it to him so much as drain it into his open throat the wound began closing none the less. Satisfied that I had managed to keep the thing from dyeing I turned around to find my new companions when everything started to get… fuzzy. I didn’t know it at the time but I had lost so much blood at that point from my wounds that I came very close to dyeing anyway. Not that any of that mattered to me at the time as I was much too busy passing out. *** *** *** I awoke sometime later lying back on some sort of sled and watching the, very blurry, cloud ceiling float by “Ugh… wa… what happened?” Looking above me I saw the two foals I’d met earlier pulling me down the road, albeit slowly. Hearing my groan Simmer looked behind herself nervously “You’re awake Princess we were really starting to worry about you.” Dusty grimaced and looked over at his sister “Speak for yourself sis I wasn’t worried at all.” I got the feeling he was lying but let it slide, motioning for them stop tried to get to my hooves. My head swam and it was lucky that I hadn’t eaten anything lately or I might have thrown up but in the end I managed it. Walking on shaky legs I helped the two little ponies unhitch themselves from the sleds harness and traded places with them. From the light outside I had been out at least a day and the two foals had pulled both me and all our gear the whole time, they were dead on their hooves and needed to rest. Slipping myself into one of their harnesses I urged the foals onto the sled and started up where they had left off. “So exactly how long have I been out anyway?” Shimmer turned to look up at me while her brother merely grunted and rolled over “About a day and a half as far as we can tell princess.” “Any sign of the griffons that attacked us?” The filly shook her head “Not anything so far. How long are they going to be asleep for anyway?” “I don’t have a clue but I doubt it would be this long so guess we got away. Regardless you just worry about getting some sleep ok?” Nodding to me the little filly did just that and all at once I was alone. Pausing in my forward walk I lifted up my pipbuck and checked the map, we had skirted around the edges of Green Meadows while I was till out and were well on our way back to Ruby’s. I started walking again as I brought up my E.F.S., there wouldn’t be any more surprises. While I walked I started checking over my H.U.D. the health bar on my left was at a rather dangerously low number, though with how I felt it wasn’t too surprising. My body felt weak and achy and while I hadn’t tried I didn’t think it would go over to well if I used any magic. The pace was slow and careful, I still couldn’t fly and I wasn’t about to leave the foals even if I could. Regardless we still made decent time through I soon found myself in front of a familiar building. The clinic looked the same was when I left but the small strawberry garden beside it was a very welcome change. With a smile I waved a hoof at Barricade as the stallion came towards us from the little shack in front of the door “Snowy! Where in the hay have you been?” *** *** *** I wasn’t sure when I passed out in this particular instance but I awoke in a hospital bed, that and a familiar white unicorn at my bed made me think it could have been worse “You know you really should try and get shot less.” “It’s good to see you too Ruby.” The mare chuckled and levitated over a tray of food saying “I know you don’t need to eat but you’re going to anyway. Did you know that thanks to, if the foals that came here with you are truthful, two brutal bouts of combat you lost so much blood that were it not for your alicorn heritage you would be dead right now?” I nodded slightly and levitated up a daisy sandwich, thankfully I didn’t have another burnout but my magic was all weak and sparky. Still the sandwich was good and the water that followed was even better “So I guess I should add another part to the list of times I almost died?” “Suppose that’s the case but… Snowy where’s Glitter?” My heart tightened up a tiny bit but I had to be sure “Wait Strawberry and Petunia are here aren’t they?” “Yes Glitter brought them in about a week ago and then went looking for you but hasn’t come back yet.” Which meant two important things, firstly that my ghoul friends were ok. Secondly, if my timing was right, it meant that the Glitter I met when I was resting in the farmhouse was an imposter too, probably the same changeling I’d run into in Green Meadows. Wanting to bring Ruby up to speed I filled her in on everything that had happened in my week long absence, leaving out the part about sidewinder of course. “It’s… it’s good to know you’ve been keeping busy at least. So you’re saying a changeling was impersonating Glitter… if that’s the case why come back here, other than to drop off the foals?” I took my time in answering; it gave me time to scope out the room. It looked the same as when I left but I didn’t see Petunia or Strawberry anywhere which probably meant that they and the foals were sleeping on the second floor. To my right I saw a small stand holding what looked like a mostly empty bag of blood, it was probably the reason I was conscious at the moment. Looking back to Ruby’s nervous face I sighed, it wasn’t going to go well but there wasn’t any point in stalling “I… I need your help Ruby, after I took the job from the mayor and killed most of the… ponies there I was about to be shot when I was saved by a group of Vanguard led by somepony named Sidewinder. He told me that Emerald was in trouble and in order to help him I would have to get somepony Sidewinder wanted to talk to… and that somepony was you Nightshade.” Ruby paled even whiter at the name and stared at me “So… he let my old name slip did he? Listen, Snowy I… I can explain..” “Good then do so.” She tilted her head in confusion “You really want to hear what I have to say?” “I trust Sidewinder about as far as I can throw him with his armor on, so yes I’ll listen to your explanation but you better not leave anything out.” Ruby sighed and shifted in her chair to get more comfortable “Very well I guess I should start at the beginning, my real name is Nightshade but I gave it up after I left the Vanguard. Before you ask, I lived there all up until a decade ago.” “So you grew up in the Vanguard and then left and came out here? If you don’t mind can I ask why?” The unicorn held up a hoof “Hold on Snowy I’m getting there. The reason I left all has to do with my job in the Vanguard. To… put it bluntly, nightshade is a flower that is used for a deadly poison… which I used often as an assassin.” I couldn’t believe my ears, the pony who gave me Angles’ Mercy and ran a medical clinic was a killer, it didn’t seem possible. I held my tongue however as she continued “You have to understand in the Vanguard is a lot different than out here. We’re taught from foalhood that the world outside the walls of our cities is nothing but sickness, starvation, and cannibalistic ponies.” “Fair enough Ruby… but what does that have to do with you being an assassin?” The unicorn slumped slightly in clear shame “Not everypony believes that the wasteland is all bad, but they are in the minority and the reigning regime doesn’t like hearing any other points of view. There are ponies like me who were used to enforce the ruler’s views on others.” This was a lot to take in at once but I still had a few questions left “So were you just used on the leader’s political rivals?” “Unfortunately not so much, we were sent to kill everypony from political activists to bothersome raider leaders. I was picked at a young age for my special talent.” Ruby turned to her side and looked over at the cross emblazoned on her flanks “This isn’t my real cutiemark you know, I used a spell to change it after I left home. My special talent is actually herbology, mixing plants and fungi together to make all kinds of healing mixtures and lethal poisons. When the military found out about me they snapped me up into their training program.” I had to admit of all the reasons I expected the Vanguard to be after her this wasn’t one of them. Reaching over I laid my hoof on the unicorn “Look I don’t care what you did in the past. Still I would like to know what you saw that made you leave.” “Truthfully it had been a long time in coming, at first I believed in the propaganda forced into our minds over and over again. But after while something started to nag at me, all of the ponies we were sent to kill were supposed to be very dangerous but more often than not they just seemed like normal ponies. The breaking point though was much later, when I was sent out to kill a very special target.” She paused for a moment and I could tell something was getting her very worked up. I didn’t really want her to continue but I needed to know what happened to her so I pressed a hoof to her shoulder and let her gather her thoughts “I should have figured it out when I got my target location, whenever went after “separatists” it was in the rich part of the city but this was in a small residential sector.” “Ruby I think I know where this is going and I don’t like it.” She smiled sadly “Exactly… imagine my surprise when I found myself standing in front of my own home. It’d been so long since I’d been there I forgot where it was on a map, never the less mom was there waiting for me like I was a little filly just home from school.” *** *** *** “You mean they sent you to kill your own mother?!” The unicorn nodded shakily, she looked like she was barely keeping herself together but she did her best to keep talking “Yes, I wasn’t given the name of my target beforehand in case I got captured but nopony else lived there so it had to be her. Even worse was that she knew, she shouldn’t have known but when I got there she was waiting for me… and… and she was smiling!” “Did you find out how she knew you were coming?” “Yes actually, when I figured out what was going on I just about died on the spot but she hugged me and welcomed me inside. We sat down on the couch and she started explaining, one of her friends had found out that she was my next target and told my mother I was coming. Apparently my bosses thought I was starting to show regret for my actions and questioning my orders, two things you were not allowed to do in my profession, so they had sent me after my own mother to prove my loyalty. Her friend had given her a way out of the city, complete with a place to go to, and urged her to run. She hadn’t though, instead she was sitting opposite me in a chair and telling me my whole life was nothing but a big lie.” She laughed bitterly and started to tear up “A-all the ponies I had killed had just been for the benefit of the ruling members of the ministries. I wasn’t totally convinced but everything she said made sense… I didn’t know what to do… what can you do when everything you believed was wrong? I wasn’t sure when I started crying b-but when I finally got control of myself my head was in her lap and she was brushing my mane; it felt like I was a little filly again, like somehow she would make it all ok.” As the mare before me completely broke down I reached over and wrapped her in my hooves. I couldn’t know exactly how she felt but I did know what it was like to find out everything you had been told all your life was nothing but a lie. It was… had to move on past something like that, but she must have to be here so there was still a story to tell. That said I wasn’t about to push her to continue till she’d gotten out her emotions, I may have hardened after leaving the stable but I was far from heartless… at least I hoped I was. It took her a while to calm down but eventually she regained her composure. Looking up at me she gave a small sad smile saying “Thank you Snowy but I can see the look in your eyes.” Before I could deny my own thoughts she spoke them aloud “You want to know if, after everything I learned, I still killed my mother.” “I… did you?” “No I didn’t have to. We talked for hours and for a moment it felt like I was still a young mare just visiting with my mother, still I knew there was something I was supposed to do. But I couldn’t, not before we talked and centrally not after. I tried to tell her but she just waived it off, she gave me the location she was supposed to get to after leaving the city and then she… s-she.” She was shaking like a leaf and it looked like she was moments from breaking down completely. I was about to tell her to stop when she wiped a hoof across her eyes and sat herself back up “You have to understand when I move on a target I check the room for anything my target could use as a weapon b-but I didn’t check this time. There was a gun sitting on the end table, it was lying out in the open plain as day and I didn’t even notice, then she took it and said goodbye a-and she… and she…” *** *** *** It took several hours for Nightsha… no Ruby to get back her composer. I’d stopped her from continuing; I knew what she was going to say and defiantly knew I didn’t need to hear it, so instead I pressed a hoof to her mouth and pulled her into a tighter hug. There were still some questions I wanted answered but the mare was in no state to indulge my curiosity and besides I needed to check on everypony else. Slipping out of bed I managed to find the other four ponies staying here out in the new garden by the clinic, Strawberry was tending to some of the tiny plants while Petunia was keeping the little ones entertained with tales of the old world. The mare noticed my approach and waved me over “Morning Princess it’s good to see ya back on your hooves.” “Petunia I told you not to call me princess!” Her mouth cracked into a smile “Ah know that sugarcube but Ah just love the way yoa blush” I hadn’t realized I had been till she said something and afterward I felt the urge to blush even harder. Pushing it aside I embraced the mare, I was surprised to realize how little it mattered to me that she and her husband had tried sell me out but with the way things were out here and that they didn’t have any choice it didn’t seem like much of an issue. Pulling away from the mare looked me over saying “Well Ah’m no medical pony so take from this what ya will but ya still look like hell Snowah. Anyway from what the little ones was telling me ya gone and lost Glitter somewhere.” “Yes unfortunately, from what I can tell she disappeared after she led you back here. Speaking of here I have a favor to ask.” “Snowah consideren ya didn’t just shoot us or leave to them ruffians Ah’ll do anything ya need ifen ah can.” I pulled her aside so the little foals wouldn’t hear us “I’m going to be heading back up north tomorrow, and hopefully Ruby will be joining me. I’m not about to send those foals with me so I was hoping you and Strawberry could look after them till I get back.” “Sure thing sugarcube Ah think we could Berry an me can handle a few little ponies fer a few days.” For the moment almost everything was settled, I wasn’t sure they would want to stay here with the two ghouls but it was the safest place for them. As if reading my mind I turned around to find Dusty three inches from me “Hey listen… uh I kinda need to talk to you so… uh follow me.” The little cold trotted around the building and I slipped around behind him, I wasn’t sure what he could want but I wanted to find out. Rounding the corner I found the brown colt nervously kicking at the dirt “Look P-princess I… I just wanted to say I’m sorry.” Well that sure made everything clear “Sorry? What in Equestria are you sorry for Dusty?” “For how I’ve been acting ok… I was behaving like a mule. I was just worried for my sister but she was right, it was a bad idea to work with the militia.” Sure Dusty had been a tittle gruff but I didn’t think he needed to apologize. Before I could say anything however the colt had sprinted off back around the building.” I hadn’t a clue what his issue was but I felt confidant he’d tell me in time. Besides I need to get back inside, my wing looked a lot better with the fresh bandages on if but it itched like crazy and I didn’t know how long it would take to heal. Once back inside I found Ruby sitting at her desk gazing wistfully at a picture of a cutely plump silver mare with a kind cheerful face. Catching me standing next to her Ruby blushed and looked away “Ruby is that your mother?” The mare sighed softly, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes “Yes her name was Sterling Silver, one of the only mares in my family who bucked the trend and became something other than a nurse.” Come on say something to cheer her up. “I can see where you got your good looks from.” Smooth Snowy real smooth. Ruby sniffled a bit but did crack a smile “Thanks dear though I think you probably could have said that better.” “Ya… eheheh sorry about that.” “It’s all right, at least it was heartfelt. Anyway I’m sure you didn’t come find me to talk about my looks, I know you have more questions about my past but you’ll have to wait to get them answered, for now we need to head up north and find the Vanguard.” I was stunned “Wait your actually going to come with me?” I had hoped she would but I never thought it would be that easy. Ruby sighed and slipped the picture back into her desk “Of course I am Snowy, preferably I’d like to keep as far away from them as I can but this isn’t just about me anymore.” She smile ruefully “besides if I don’t go with you who’s going to patch you up when you get shot again?” “Hey! It’s not my fault ponies like to shoot me ok… ugh fine but I don’t have much ammo left and my armor has bit the big one so we’re going to need fresh supplies.” The white unicorn nodded saying “I think I have something that could help with the armor problem but for ammo we either need to back to Baleville or head up to Horntown. For now though you get some rest while I get my own gear ready.” I nodded and trotted out of the room towards the bed. A few strides from the door my horn lit with magic as Ruby’s voice floated out after me “And don’t even think about scratching that wing!” Shutting off my magic I blushed and quickly headed for the infirmary.